


The Truth About Aunt Molly

by Rcw99



Series: Things To Hold On To [6]
Category: Night In The Woods (Video Game)
Genre: Conspiracy, Drinking, Gen, Investigations, The Cult, What Became of Aunt Mall-Cop?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2018-11-02 04:58:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10937475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rcw99/pseuds/Rcw99
Summary: Officer Molly Williams has had a pretty terrible couple of weeks. To start it all off, her delinquent kid niece comes home from college and starts causing trouble again, and then an arm appears in the middle of town.Meanwhile, the town council starts riding her ass about a homeless guy up by the church and some petty vandalism down in the trolley platform, and then her niece starts spouting off something about a ghost.Oh, and she’s pretty sure there’s a mysterious group in the town that has been kidnapping people for years and she’s determined to get to the bottom of it before everything else goes to shit.A look at the events of the game as experienced by Aunt Molly.





	1. The Arm

  


_~The Arm~_

  


Miller’s Sports Bar.

It was the only place in Possum Springs to get a proper drink unless you wanted to go all the way out to the highway, which the vast majority of people did not want to do. Because of that, it was probably the single most profitable business in town.

The people of Possum Springs liked to drink.

And no exception was made for Officers Molly Williams and Sam Hutchins. They came in at least three times a week when their shifts were up and knocked back a beer or two.

Today was no different. If anything, it was needed more than usual. It had been a long day.

The two of them walked into Miller’s and headed directly for their normal booth in the back corner. The bar was pretty dead at the moment, which made sense as it was considerably later than they normally came in. The only other people inside were Frank Santello, who was already about twenty beers into his night, and the owner, Thomas Miller.

As they slid into their booth, Thomas called out to them. “The usual?” he asked.

Sam nodded. “Yeah.” He paused. “And double it. We need it tonight.”

“Alright.”

They sat there for a moment in silence as they waited for Thomas to bring them their drinks. Frank mumbled something under his breath and slumped forward onto the bar. Molly eyed him thoughtfully and hoped they wouldn’t have to throw him in the drunk tank tonight.

After a minute, Thomas came over with their drinks and then retreated back behind the bar, leaving the two officers to talk in peace.

And, boy, did they have things to talk about.

“So,” Sam said, taking a sip of his beer, “Someone lost an arm today.”

Molly chuckled dryly and leaned back in her seat. “Yeah.”

“And your niece was pokin’ at it with a stick. Tamperin’ with it.”

“Yes she was.” She let out an exasperated sigh. “That’s Mae for you.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “And what’s she doin’ back in town anyway? Wasn’t she up in Durkillesburg or somethin’?”

“She was. Don’t know why she’s back.” She scoffed. “I mean, Candy called me the night before last and told me she was coming home, but didn’t explain any further.”

“She dropped out?”

“Apparently. I asked her about it when I drove her home last night, but she wasn’t exactly forthcoming with details.”

“And on her first day back she manages to find a dismembered arm on the street and decides to just poke at it with a stick?”

“Of course. She, Greggory Lee, the younger Delaney brother, and…” Molly glanced over at Frank, who was making his way through another drink. “…And the Santello kid were all there. She’s got her little gang of friends.”

“That she does. All that’s missin’ is Casey Hartley.” Sam stifled a yawn. “And maybe it’s a good thing he’s missin’ too, ‘cause I don’t know if I could handle the three of them bein’ back together again. The terrible trio, back at it again.”

Molly groaned at the thought. “Oh God. I don’t even wanna think about what trouble she and the Lee boy are gonna get into just by themselves. It’s been nice and quiet for the past few years in that regard. He really simmered down after she left, though I guess that was mostly because, uhh…what’s-his-face reigned him in.”

“Angus, I think? His older brother’s Johnathan,” Sam supplied.

Molly nodded. “Yeah. Yeah. Angus.” She stopped there and spent a moment drinking her beer. “I had hoped that college might’ve straightened her out a little bit, but after I found her walking on the power lines again last night, I guess that might’ve been too optimistic. So long as I don’t end up having to arrest her for anything, it’ll be fine.”

“You really care for her, huh? Even after all the trouble she caused as a kid?”

Molly shrugged. “She’s family. And now she’s—” She broke off, steering the conversation back on track. “And now this arm thing’s happened and she’s involved with it. I don’t want her to get hurt.”

Sam stiffened at the tone in her voice. He turned his head, quickly looking over the rest of the bar. Frank had his face buried in his arms, his drinks forgotten, and Thomas had disappeared into the back room at some point. No one was listening in.

“You think the arm is…?” He gave her a questioning look, not wanting to even finish the question.

Molly sighed and leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. She knew they’d have to talk about this, but really wasn’t looking forward to it. “I don’t know. I mean, you’d think so, right? I don’t what else it _could_ be.” She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “We’ll have to poke around some. If it’s not related, then we have even more to worry about.”

“And if it is, then this is probably the biggest thing we’ve had in years. The chief would—”

“Dave can’t know we’re looking into this, Sam. You know that.” She glared at him. “Especially not this. This is big, and we have to keep it under wraps as much as we can. It would mean the end of everything we’ve worked for.”

“I know. I know. I just— You know I don’t like this, Molly. It…it feels wrong. Couldn’t we at least cut Dan in too? He’s been here longer than either of us and he—”

“We can’t trust Dan with this either. You know how he is.” She paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts. “Listen, if you want to, you can take a backseat for a while, okay? I can handle this on my own. I was doing it long before you came along, anyways.”

“I don’t wanna leave you with that, Molly. That ain’t right either.”

“It’s fine. Really.” She tapped on the table. “I’ll do this, and you just focus on whatever else comes up, okay?”

“I…” Sam pursed his lips and then nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

There was another lull in their conversation as they both finished off their beers.

After a moment, Sam spoke up again. “So what next then? What’re you gonna do ‘bout this arm?”

Molly didn’t respond at first, instead fiddling with her empty glass. Eventually, she looked up at Sam, meeting his eyes. “Well, as much as I don’t want to, we’ll have to follow proper procedure for now. Too many people heard about the arm for us to just sweep it under the rug. We’ll have to send it over to the precinct in Saltztown for analysis—because we certainly can’t do anything with it here—and we’ll have to wait and see what they say. Meanwhile, I’ll have to try and find just who the arm belonged to.”

“That sounds like fun.” Sarcasm dripped from his voice.

“Oh yeah, it’s exciting stuff. Some actual police work for once.”

“You want any help with the paperwork?”

“Nah, I’ll handle it. Don’t worry.”

“Alright.” He yawned again. He was obviously getting tired. “Just offerin’.”

Molly nodded absentmindedly and glanced at her watch. It was almost midnight. 

They had had a pretty late shift, what with having to deal with the arm and everything. It had kept them working overtime, and she was feeling pretty exhausted. She was fairly certain Sam was as well.

She knew she needed to go home and at least try and get some sleep before having to head in the next morning. Whether or not that would actually happen would remain to be seen, as she already knew she’d be kept up thinking about the arm.

At least she and Sam had managed to talk about everything they needed to talk about. That would make planning things out somewhat easier, knowing that they were on the same page.

She tilted her head, gesturing towards the front door. “Wanna head out?”

“Yeah.” He idly rubbed one of his eyes. “It’s gettin’ late.”

With that, they stood up, bringing their empty glasses up to the bar. Thomas was still in the back room, somewhere. “Hey, Tom!” Sam yelled as he pulled on his coat, “We’re leavin’!”

“See ya!” Thomas called back, and, after a moment, he came out to clean up after the two officers.

On the way out, Molly stopped beside Frank, who was staring forlornly at the bar top. She put a paw on his shoulder, but he didn’t seem to acknowledge her any. “Hey, Frank,” she said, “You doing okay?”

He didn’t respond.

Undeterred, Molly squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. “You should get on home, Frank. It’s late. Go see your daughter.”

He shrugged her paw off and pointedly continued to ignore her.

She sighed heavily and left Frank to his misery. She hadn’t exactly been expecting any change in attitude from him, but at least she tried. Maybe one day, he’d find peace. She could only hope.

With that done, she joined Sam at the front door, where he had been watching their exchange. Together, they exited out into the night. “He doin’ okay?” he asked once they were outside.

Molly gave a noncommittal grunt and put her hat back on her head. “He’s the same.”

Sam nodded at that and walked up to their cruiser, which was parked out front. He fished in his pocket for the keys. “Here. Catch,” he said, and tossed the keys to Molly.

Caught by surprise, she turned just in time to see the keys flying at her, barely getting her paw up in time to catch them. Clutching the keys, she looked at him, an eyebrow raised in question. 

“You drive her home tonight,” he said.

She was surprised at that. There were only two police cars in Possum Springs, and Dan had the other one, as he worked nights. She and Sam always had to share the other, and he was the one that normally took it home every night, as he lived further away. “You sure?” she asked.

“Yeah. I’ll walk.” He waved goodbye and turned to walk away. “See ya,” he called back over his shoulder. And with that, he was gone.

Molly watched him until he turned the corner at the end of the block before she got into the car.

She sat there for a few moments, without the engine on, staring off down the street towards the Click Clak where the arm had been earlier in the day. All of a sudden, she had the strangest feeling that something big was going to happen, and she didn’t like it. Her intuition was rarely wrong.

And then she started the car and drove off for home.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I normally try and avoid heavily using OCs whenever possible, but unfortunately, we never meet any other police officers in game, and it's needed for this story. After Harfest, Molly briefly mentions searching the woods with someone named Dan McConnell, which I only remembered after I created Sam. Oh well.
> 
> For reference, there's three officers in Possum Springs, Molly, Sam Hutchins, and Dan McConnell, the latter of which is on call during the night, and the police chief, David Reed.


	2. The Town Council

  


_~The Town Council~_

  


It had been four days since that arm had appeared in front of the Clik Clak.

It had been four long, excruciating days for Molly, through no fault of her own.

She and Sam hadn’t been able to see each other at all over the past few days, let alone been able to get together for drinks. They had been kept busy, separate from one another, doing all sorts of different things around town. At first, Molly had been preoccupied investigating the arm, but that was stopped short by some unwelcome distractions.

Today, the two of them were finally back in Miller’s, for a chance at some of their first real rest in days. The bar was crowded and loud, as it normally was around six or seven o’clock. People were just getting off work and coming in for a quick drink.

Molly had intended to talk with Sam about certain, sensitive topics again, regarding the arm and such, but had to table the issue for the time being. Tonight, they were joined by Dan McConnell, the sole night shift officer, who had practically invited himself into the outing when he had heard that she and Sam were going out for drinks. It wasn’t an overly unusual thing for him to do, just terribly inconvenient at the moment.

Currently, Molly was two and a half beers into the night and was getting some things off her chest. Namely, she was complaining about the town council and how they’d spent the better part of the last two days wasting her time.

“…And then they dragged me down to the trolley platform to take a look at some vandalism.” She sighed heavily and drank some of her beer. “Held me up for almost three hours total. Don’t know why they couldn’t have gotten you to look at it.” She gestured at Sam, who had been watching on with an amused expression.

Dan glared at her. “Well, the town respects ya, Molly. They value your opinion. You should appreciate that.”

“I know. And I do.” She nodded. “It’s just that I was in the middle of something far more important. Sam’s just as able to look into some petty vandalism as I am, but they wouldn’t hear of it. They had to have me.”

Sam gave her a small, understanding smile.

Dan didn’t have a response.

They drank their beers in silence for a moment. Molly finished her third glass, Sam his second, and Dan his fourth.

Around them, Miller’s was in full swing. The TVs were turned to the Smelters game, all the seats were filled, and everyone was drinking.

It was disgustingly normal.

“So what happened?” Sam asked, turning his attention back to Molly.

“With what?”

“The vandalism. I haven’t gotten a chance to get down there and take a look yet.”

Molly shrugged. “Oh. Well…nothing, really. Some kids broke in and defaced the mural. They were writing the old ‘Nuke Possum Springs’ tag but stopped and left halfway through.”

“Hrmm… Haven’t seen that in years.”

“I know,” she agreed. “I mean, kids used to do it when we were in school and all, but I don’t know why it’s back now.”

And then she remembered something else about the event that had irked her. She groaned and banged a paw on the table. “And Gary and Colleen were all up in arms about it, calling them ‘terrorists’ and such. Gary wanted… God, I don’t even know what he wanted. The way he was talking sounded like he wanted the death penalty or something. I don’t know.”

Dan spoke up again. “Well, the mural _is_ of historical note. It’s a shame to see another piece of our history be so utterly destroyed because of some hooligans.”

Molly snorted, nearly choking on her drink. “’Historical note,’ my ass! That’s _exactly_ what they were going on about yesterday. The thing’s almost a hundred years old! It’s amazing it’s even survived as long as it has.”

“That don’t matter none. It’s an important part of our town. It’s in the travel brochure!”

She full-on laughed at that. “When exactly was the last time _anyone_ has ever come to town to look at it? When was the last time anyone at all has come to look at anything? There’s nothing here for any tourists. No one comes here to visit.”

“We had that photographer fellow come by a few years back. He came to take pictures.”

“I mean, yeah, he came here specifically lookin’ for dilapidated, turn-of-the-century architecture.” This was Sam talking now. He was interested in that sort of stuff. “And he stayed for about a day before decidin’ we weren’t exactly what he was lookin’ for and left.”

“See?” Molly scoffed. “We aren’t a tourist destination.”

“Well…uhh…we’ve had a couple of people come by over the years.” Dan was trying to save face now.

“Even if that were true, I don’t know if a couple of people is worth the time, effort, and money we’ve been spending to keep the trolley platform open. I mean, hell, Colleen wants to turn it into an old folks’ home—somehow. I’d just as soon see it closed down than anything.”

“Then ya should come by the next town meeting and tell ‘em what ya think, ‘cause right now, everyone over at town hall thinks we oughta keep the place open. The mayor fought hard for the funding.”

“I know he did. I just don’t think it’s worth it is all.”

Dan turned to Sam, obviously annoyed with Molly. “And what do _ya_ think about all this, huh? Think we should just tear down our history ‘cause it’s too inconvenient?” He glared at Molly from the corner of his eye.

Sam just shrugged and pointedly spent a minute drinking the last of his beer to delay his response. “I ain’t gettin’ involved none,” he said. “I just think that the council shouldn’t be takin’ up Molly’s time like that. Not with what’s been goin’ on.”

Molly flinched inwardly and shot Sam a look. They had managed to go this whole time skirting around the issue of the arm, and now he had practically brought it up. She really didn’t want to talk about it while Dan was around.

But Dan didn’t seem to pick up on it. Not yet, at least.

So before he had a chance to say anything, Molly changed the subject.

“And- and- and!” She took another sip of beer. “Speaking of them wasting my time—Today, they dragged me up into the woods by the church to look at some homeless guy. Name’s Bruce or Bryce or something. They’ve been all uppity about it for the past few days—been lodging complaints about vagrancy and such. And they brought me up there to assess if he was breaking any laws or if he was a ‘danger to the community.’ Bunch of assholes, the lot of them.”

“Hey!” Dan cut in, “They’re just looking out for the town is all. We certainly don’t need no people coming in here asking for handouts. If this guy’s living in the woods, why haven’t ya arrested him yet?”

Molly rolled her eyes at that. “Well he’s not breaking any laws, Dan. That land up there belongs to the church, and Pastor Kate doesn’t want him gone. Wants him to stay, even.”

Dan huffed and crossed his arms across his chest. “If she does that, we’ll be having all manner of his ilk coming to stay here. You ‘member how it was in the ‘eighties, don’t ya? We had drifters coming in off the trains left and right. Disgusting.”

Molly and Sam eyed each other. Understanding flashed between them.

Sam spoke up, trying to diffuse the tension some. “I remember, Dan. Be that as it may, it’s still Kate’s decision. If she wants to help the guy, she’s well in her right.”

“She’s soft,” Dan said plainly, as if it were a fact. “Ol’ Pastor Thompson wouldn’t’ve done that none. He’d’ve drove the guy off himself. If it weren’t for that fourth heart attack he had, he’d still be up at the church, and there wouldn’t even be a problem.”

Molly ground her teeth and bit back a retort.

This was why she and Sam didn’t ordinarily spend time with Dan. He was an old, argumentative bastard that got on her nerves like no one else did. They had always been at odds, ever since she had first joined the police, and even years before then.

She wasn’t even sure the last time he’d done any actual police work. The only reason he was still on the force was because he’d always been on there, and the mayor and the chief saw no reason to let him go, despite a fair amount of complaints over the years.

Basically, she tried to stay as far away from Dan as she could, which was easy seeing he worked nights. It was only when he intruded on her and Sam’s trips to Miller’s and the like that they ever interacted.

And Sam knew that they didn’t mesh well together. He spent a lot of time mediating between the two of them, and he knew he needed to intervene now. 

He smiled gently, trying to placate Dan some. “He _was_ a mighty fine pastor. He certainly had his own way about things. I was sad to see him go, but I do think Kate is just as capable in her own right. There’s nothin’ we can do ‘bout it.”

Dan grumbled something under his breath but seemed to get the hint and stopped talking. 

That was just fine with Molly.

The conversation lulled after that. The three of them ordered another round of beers, making four for Molly, three for Sam, and five for Dan.

For a while, Dan’s attention as grabbed by the Smelters game on the TV. They were down fourteen-to-twenty and the entire bar was in an uproar for the next hour or so. Possum Springs loved the Smelters, after all.

Even Molly, who actually preferred ice hockey more than anything, found the game pretty enjoyable. There was one play in particular that had the whole place up on its feet.

At the beginning of the last quarter, Dan ordered yet another beer and chugged it down. Molly wanted to point out that he shouldn’t have been drinking so much, seeing as he was on call, but knew it would fall on deaf ears.

In the end, the Smelters ending up losing, and the majority of the bar headed home in disappointment, leaving the three officers pretty much alone, save for a few other people.

Molly was getting ready to leave as well, as she had had another long day and stayed out later than she had intended. Sam too was ready to head on home. They were both drinking down the rest of their beers in preparation.

It was then that Dan leaned forward, clasping his hands together. A broad grin played across his face. his words slow and slurred from the alcohol in him. “So what’s going on with that arm, Molly? Haven’t heard much ‘bout it the past few days.”

A jolt of panic shot through Molly at his words, cutting through the slight buzz she had developed. They had almost managed to get through the entire evening without broaching the subject. Of course he was going to ask about it. She wasn’t so lucky. 

With a practiced smile, she took a gentle breath in and very firmly kept herself from looking at Sam. “Well, it’s over in Saltztown for analysis right now. We just have to wait and see what they come up with.”

Dan nodded at that. “Yeah, yeah. O’course.” He paused for a second. “Have ya found any other evidence or the like?”

“No.” She shook her head. “No one missing an arm has turned up at any hospital in a hundred-mile radius, no missing person reports have been called in anywhere, and I haven’t managed to find a body anywhere. Whoever that arm belonged to is still missing.”

“Ah. That’s a shame.” Dan leaned back in his seat. “Hope ya manage to find him soon. That’s a mighty big case to solve there.” He chuckled.

“I hope so too. As I was saying before, I haven’t gotten the time to look into it the past two days ‘cause the council’s been parading me all over town for every trivial thing they can think of. They apparently care more about that homeless guy than they do about a potential murder.”

“Woah! Hey now!” Dan seemed taken aback, and glanced around to see if anyone around them had heard. “’Murder’ is a mighty strong word, don’t ya think?”

“Well what else could it be, Dan? Think some guy just casually ripped off his own arm and skipped town?”

He shrugged. “I dunno. But if folks start hearing things ‘bout murder, things’ll get rough here. Folks’ll leave. No one’s gonna wanna move here. You just gotta figure out what happened is all. I’m sure it’s nothing major.”

Molly stared deadpan at him. “Well, tell that to Gary. He and the others need to get off my back if we want to find out what happened.” 

Sam spoke up then. “Well…maybe I could help them out. I know you said they keep askin’ for you, but I’ll go and speak to them and tell them that I’ll handle any issues they may have. They don’t have a right to monopolize your time like that.”

“Thanks, Sam.” She nodded at her friend. “That’d help a lot.”

There was a beat of silence.

And then Dan had more to say. “O’course, things are gonna be mighty busy ‘round here the next few days.” He was smiling now. “Harfest is coming up and we’re gonna need all hands on deck to get a handle on it. Unfortunately, I don’t think you’ll be able to spend much time looking into your arm thing regardless.”

“It’s a potential murder, Dan. Not a _thing_.”

He scowled at her. “Now what’d I say ‘bout assuming things, girl? Don’t call it a murder if ya don’t know it is yet. That’s just basic procedure. Didn’t they teach ya that or did ya miss that part of the handbook?”

Molly took a deep breath in and then let it out, steadying her nerves some. She decided not to respond to his goading, but he was making it very hard on her. She was starting to get very aggravated with him. They were both a teeny, tiny bit buzzed at the moment and she really didn’t want to get into an argument without all her faculties about her.

“Anyhow,” Dan continued, seemingly unaffected by the tension between them, “I’m gonna need ya to help me keep things in check the night of Harfest. Sam helped out last year, so it’s your turn again this year.”

Molly looked at Sam, her eyes wide and pleading. Normally, she would’ve minded doing so, but she didn’t have the time to waste helping out at Harfest. Not while she had to deal with this arm problem.

But Sam understood her silent message and ran interference. “…Well, I could do it again this year, Dan. I don’t mind. Molly can—”

Dan waved his hand dismissively. “Naw. Don’t go making excuses for her none. It’s her turn and she’s gonna do her job whether she wants to or not. It’s already set in stone. Harfest is always one of our busiest nights. It’s an important job.”

“I know that, Dan.” Molly sighed. “You don’t understand. I just—”

Something about that seemed to incite Dan some. He lit up like a firecracker. “Ya just what? Just wanna get outta doing work, huh? Just wanna complain ‘bout hard-working members of this town? The way you’ve been going on tonight, it doesn’t seem like ya have any interest in what’s best for this town, Molly. You’re an officer. You can’t be shirking your duties and be going off doing whatever ya want!”

And just like that, Molly was pushed over the line too. “That is not what this is about!” She dug her claws into the table, practically growling at him.

“Then what is it about, Margaret?” He leered at her. “You haven’t changed a bit since you was a kid, have ya? ‘Cause don’t you think I don’t remember how you were.”

Sam interrupted them. “Hey now! Both of you need to calm down. You both had a lot to drink, and—”

But his words went unheeded.

“Oh, that’s rich, coming from you!” Her blood was boiling now. She and Dan had always butted heads, but this was something a little more now. “You’ve always been an asshole, ever since I can remember! I’ve earned this! You don’t think I want this job?!”

“Well, I’m sure ya do. But I know what I know, and I know what kinda person ya are, Margaret! It’s just how ya are. All anyone has to do is go and ask the Warton family! If it wasn’t for your inaction, their boy would’ve still been alive today! That’s on you!”

“Woah! Woah!” Sam pushed Dan back into his seat. “That’s way outta line, Dan. Holy Hell! You know that ain’t true! She…”

But Molly didn’t hear anything else.

Dan’s words rang in her ears, stopping her dead in her tracks.

She sat there, an old and familiar numbness creeping back into her body.

In an instant, all of the anger that had filled her moments ago was gone.

And she was left with a hollowness.

A heavy guilt that settled deep in her core.

She breathed in deep, feeling the air fill her lungs, and then let it out.

“Molly?” came Sam’s voice.

She glanced up, meeting Dan’s eyes across from her.

He was staring at her.

For a moment, she remembered another pair of eyes staring up at her.

She remembered standing, frozen to the spot, as Lou Warton died right in front of her and she couldn’t help him.

And then she blinked.

“Molly?” Sam gripped her shoulder and she flinched slightly at the contact.

She looked at Sam, at the pity that was plainly evident on his face, and then she looked over at Dan.

Almost unbidden, a spike of anger shot through her as she took in his self-satisfied expression. However much she wanted to, some rational part of her knew it wouldn’t be a good idea to punch him in the face. 

She had to leave now, before anything else happened. They were both drunk.

“I don’t have to listen to this.” Her words were terse and unsteady, but were spat out with as much venom as she could muster.

And with that, she stood up from the booth and began walking out.

If Dan said anything more, she didn’t hear it.

But she could feel both Sam’s and Dan’s eyes on her as she walked out. From behind the bar, Thomas Miller watched her with a sympathetic look.

The only other people left in the bar were probably too drunk to care about or remember this argument. Thank God for that, she figured. At least the town wouldn’t hear about it. Possum Springs loved gossip.

“Molly!” Sam called out, starting after her, “Just hold up. Wait—”

But she had already crossed the room and was yanking the door open.

Without even a glance back, she stepped outside.

The last thing she heard before the door slammed shut behind her was Dan’s voice. “Yeah! Just you leave again, why don’t ya!? Run on back home, Margaret!”

Without pause, she stomped down the steps outside of Miller’s and stood there for a moment, on the sidewalk, breathing deeply.

That was stupid. The whole thing. She wasn’t normally like that. Too much alcohol. She shouldn’t have had so much to drink, especially with Dan there.

And he—

How dare he—

How could he bring that up?!

He—

She clenched her fist, feeling her claws dig into the skin.

She took in a deep breath.

And let it out.

She didn’t want to think about that.

She didn’t want to think about Dan or Sam or the Warton family.

She just…

She glanced behind her, at the stairs down to the trolley platform.

She looked out at the street, at the cars driving past and the people walking by.

And she turned and went down into the Towne Center Platform.

Past the gate and down the stairs.

It was only when she got all the way to the bottom that she realized she forgot her hat on the table in the bar. For a moment, she almost turned and went back up to get it, but immediately thought better of it. Sam would get it for her.

Molly sighed and stuffed her paws into her pockets.

The trolley platform was empty.

No one came by at this time of night.

In just a little bit, one of the town council members would be coming by to lock up the gates to the place.

She really didn’t want to be here when they came by.

But just for the moment, she stood there.

She looked at the mural and at the unfinished graffiti that covered it.

And she thought that it wouldn’t really be that big of a tragedy if they nuked Possum Springs.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One thing I think is interesting that I haven’t ever seen discussed is Molly’s name. While Molly is a complete name on its own, it can also be a nickname for Margaret, just like Mae is. I think it would be really interesting if Mae and Molly shared the same name, because that would mean that Candy named Mae after her sister. And while we never actually see Candy and Molly interact in the game, I'd like to think that they love each other very much. Maybe other people have picked up on that too, but I haven’t seen it.


	3. A Kidnapping

  


_~A Kidnapping~_

  


It was nearing the end of the day, and Molly was hunched over her desk in the police station, begrudgingly catching up on some mind-numbing paperwork. 

She was not enjoying it at all. It was not a very pleasant task. It was tedious and boring, and she would much rather be doing anything else. She so desperately wanted to be out on patrol like she normally was.

But, the chief was ordering her to do this. The moment she walked into the station that morning, he practically forced her to sit down and work on filling out some reports and other documentation. And when she had finished with that, he had made her do even more.

She had protested, of course, but he kept repeating just how much she needed to be doing all this paperwork. He wrapped her up in red tape and threw just about every rule and regulation at her. 

And it was completely out of character for Dave. He had never, in all her years working under him, ever put that much stock in paperwork or procedure—that just wasn’t how it was done in small towns like Possum Springs. 

Police work normally requires a lot of paperwork, something that TV shows and movies vastly underrepresented, much to Molly’s chagrin. But here in the Possum Springs Police Department, Chief David Reed typically only cared about the bare minimum amount of bureaucracy required, and sometimes even less than that. He really didn’t care all that much about it.

Molly certainly didn’t either.

So it struck her as highly suspicious that he would be making her do so much, especially now of all times, what with the mysterious arm and now a report of a kidnapped person. It was no coincidence he had saddled her with so much paperwork.

This wouldn’t be the time to keep one of your only two day officers inside. Molly had argued that, but Dave wouldn’t hear of it, giving her some excuse of all this paperwork being suddenly important to the department.

Not even to mention the fact that he had been holed up in his office all day, pointedly keeping an eye on her, making sure she didn’t go anywhere.

Molly wasn’t stupid, but it seemed like Dave thought she was. She knew he was doing everything in his power to keep her where he could watch her, even if he was acting like he wasn’t.

So she sat and she worked and crossed her t’s and dotted her i’s and waited until the day was over.

And that was where she still was come the end of her shift when she finally finished out the very last of her paperwork. She was done. Thank God for that, she thought. The day had been an absolute slog to get through. A complete waste of time, really.

With a sigh, she leaned back in her chair, stretching all of her limbs, and then glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was almost six o’clock. She had been working nonstop for nearly thirteen hours.

At the far end of the room, the door to Dave’s office was cracked open, the barest hints of his desk visible through the crack. It had been open most of the day, so he could watch her, but he had partially closed it about an hour ago. She could hear him talking on the phone with someone, but couldn’t quite make out what he was saying.

She would’ve liked to have gone over and eavesdropped some, but she knew he would notice. He was still paying attention to her, she was sure.

And she couldn’t leave either, as her shift wasn’t up for a couple of minutes and she knew he wouldn’t let her go any earlier. She could easily imagine him citing some sort of rule that would only further inconvenience her.

So, she was stuck there at her desk. 

Waiting.

From the other room, Dave’s voice rose. He was shouting now.

Molly’s eyes alighted on the telephone on her desk, an idea forming in her head. Maybe while she was waiting, she could make a phone call of her own and find out some much-needed information.

She picked up the receiver and dialed a number she knew by heart.

There were three rings before anyone picked up.

“…Hello?”

Molly smiled reflexively and leaned forward on her desk. “Hey, sis.”

“Hey yourself, Mol.” Candy seemed pleased to hear from her. “What’s going on?” 

“Nothing really. Just haven’t heard from you guys in a few days. How’re you doing?”

“We’re good. Same old, same old, you know? Still working hard trying to keep the church in order. Stan’s boss is still giving him hell. How about you?”

“I’m doing alright. My boss is giving me hell too, I’ll tell you what. Spent the whole day filling out paperwork. My entire arm feels like it’s about to fall off.”

“Oh yeah? That sounds like fun.” The sarcasm dripped from her voice. “Didn’t know being a cop was so easy.”

“You wanna trade? I’ll take your cushy church job and you can walk the beat.”

Candy laughed. “Are you kidding? Dad would roll over in his grave! It’s bad enough _you_ wanted to be a police officer. Could you imagine me?”

“Sure.” She hummed in thought. “I’m sure you’d look cute in a police uniform. I could lend you mine and some handcuffs…and you could see if Stan’s into that sort of roleplay, huh?”

“Molly!” Candy was flustered. “You— You can’t— That’s—”

And now Molly was the one laughing. “Sorry, sis. You’re too easy. I’m sure you and Stan have a lot of fun in the missionary position.”

But by now Candy had gotten her wits back around her. “Well, at least I’m married, Miss Ice Queen. Remind me again—how many hearts did you break senior year alone?”

Molly rolled her eyes. “Ugh. Don’t bring that up. Just because I didn’t wanna go to prom with Kyle or Levon doesn’t mean anything.”

“Suuuure. You keep telling yourself that.”

Molly decided not to respond. She’d explained herself enough times over the years to not even bother anymore. She could be on her death bed, and she was sure that Candy would still bring that up.

Instead, she decided to get to the real reason she had called in the first place. “So how’s Mae doing? She settling back in okay?”

There was a pause on the other end, and then, “Yeah. She’s good, I think. I don’t really know, to be honest. I’ve hardly seen her since she got back.”

“She at home now?”

“No. She’s out in town somewhere with her friends, just like every night the past two weeks.”

“Oof. She’s not getting into any trouble, is she?”

“No. Nothing too bad, at least. She’s been getting home around midnight pretty consistently though. Stan’s been waiting up for her to make sure she makes it home alright.”

“Good. Good. Can’t be too careful.”

There was a moment of silence. A lull in the conversation.

Molly had really been hoping Candy could’ve told her where Mae was. She hadn’t seen her niece since they ran into each other out by the Food Donkey the day after Harfest. The day after Mae had supposedly seen someone get kidnapped.

And, not that she didn’t trust Candy and Stan to keep an eye on their child, it was just they didn’t really know what was going on in this town. Molly just wanted to make sure that Mae was safe. That her family was safe.

“Oh!” Candy gasped suddenly. “Guess what? Me and her went out to Jenny’s Field today. Can you believe that she’s never actually been out there? Never even heard of it.”

Molly blinked, getting her head back in the game. “Really? I mean, I know it’s not really that popular with the kids these days, but I would think that they’ve at least heard about it.” She scoffed. “God, that makes me feel old.”

“Well you are old. What are you—sixty-three now?”

“Fifty-two!”

“Ah, right. That’s it.” Molly could hear the smugness through the phone.

“Yeah yeah. Laugh it up. You’re not that young yourself, sis. I’ve only got six years on you.”

“Six years is six years.”

Molly twirled the phone cord around her finger. “Yeah, you’re a regular spring chicken… But, speaking of, how long has it been since you were able to get to the top of the kiln in Jenny’s Field? Been awhile, huh?”

Silence was her only answer.

Molly laughed warmly. “That’s what I thought.” And then, “Did you at least get her to fall in the hole?”

Candy found her voice again. “Oh yeah. Of course. That’s tradition.” She was clearly pleased with herself. “Guided her right towards it right after I told her what happened to Jenny. It was _perfect_.”

“And?”

“And she freaked out, of course. Took all I had to keep from laughing.”

“That’s gold. Wish I could’ve seen it.” Molly shook her head wistfully. “God, I still remember Alex and Stephen Jones digging that hole back in ’71…”

Another thought occurred to her then. “When’d you guys go out there? This morning? That must’ve been real pretty with the sunrise and everything. I’m surprised you managed to get Mae out of bed so early.”

Candy cleared her throat. “Well… Actually, it was just a few hours ago.”

“What?” Molly frowned. “Weren’t you working?”

“…Yeah…” Molly could hear the embarrassment in her sister’s voice. “I just skipped out for a little bit is all.”

“You?” Molly laughed heartily. “Perfect little Candice skipped out on work?! Holy shit! What is this world coming to?”

After a second, Molly realized that Candy wasn’t laughing. She was silent.

“Candy?”

There was a sigh from the other end of the line. “…Well, me and Mae got into it a few days ago. Nothing—Nothing quite as bad as before, but…uhh…” She paused. “I don’t know. I just wanted to do something nice with her.”

Molly deflated at that. “Oh. How’re you guys doing?”

“We’re okay. She’s, uh, still refusing to talk about why she dropped out... And then I may have mentioned something about the house...”

“Ah.” Molly understood now. “What’d she say?”

“She felt guilty of course. Upset that we may be losing it.”

“Yeah…” Molly wasn’t quite sure what to say.

“What do you—”

“Enjoying your conversation, Officer Williams?”

Molly jumped at the sudden voice, nearly throwing the receiver onto the floor.

She glanced up to see Dave standing right beside her, arms crossed across his chest.

Just great, she thought. He must’ve finished up his own conversation and had come out to check on her. She really should’ve been paying more attention.

Smiling gently, Molly held the receiver back up to her ear. “I’m gonna have to call you back, sis.” And then she hung up.

Dave raised an eyebrow. “Now, I know that you know not to conduct personal business while on the clock, Molly.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You finish up all your paperwork then?”

“Yes, sir. Just a few minutes ago.”

He nodded approvingly. “Good. Good. Glad you got that all sorted.” And then, “Listen, I’d like to have a word with you.”

Molly tried her best not to look too concerned at that. She had been expecting something like this all day. She could do this. She had been preparing.

When she didn’t say anything, Dave continued on his own. “Dan told me that you guys searched the woods for a missing person yesterday?”

“Yes, sir. While we were doing our rounds after Harfest. Didn’t find anyone though.”

“Well, as far as I know, we haven’t received any formal missing persons’ reports in a long time. Why exactly were you looking? You know I don’t like when you waste the department’s time like that.”

Molly didn’t respond at first, considering just how to answer. “My niece thought she saw someone getting kidnapped the night of Harfest.”

Dave laughed. “Your niece?” he asked incredulously, “Mae Borowski told you that she saw someone get kidnapped—and you believed her?”

Molly frowned at that, upset that he was speaking about Mae like that. “Yes, sir. I considered it actionable information. I thought it better to at least keep an eye out than to ignore it.”

He snorted in disbelief. “Mae Borowski has shown time and time again that she has no respect for the law enforcement of this town. I’m sure it was nothing more than a prank. I’m sure she thought it funny to antagonize you and waste your time, and you believed her.”

“Sir, with all due respect, I trust—”

“Drop it, Officer Williams.” He jabbed a finger in her face. “I don’t wanna hear anything about it again. Right now, your niece is laughing that she managed to make a fool of you. It’s an embarrassment to this department.”

“Yes, sir.” Molly nodded tersely, deciding to just concede. “Of course, sir.”

“You’re a fine officer, Molly. You and Sam both.” He smiled. “A real important part of this community. I’d hate to see either of you get hurt because you decided to investigate every little rumor that you heard. You have to be discerning about these things, okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay.” He tapped on her desk, still smiling. “I’ll be seeing you tomorrow.” And with that final statement, he walked back into his office, leaving the door wide open. 

The moment he got out of sight, Molly sunk down in her chair, letting out a relieved sigh. 

That had been an…interesting conversation. Dave obviously thought he was being subtle, but he was about as subtle as a bat smashing someone’s face in.

And Molly knew—

Her radio crackled to life. “Hey, you.” It was Sam’s voice. “I’ll be swingin’ by the station in a few minutes. Be ready to go.”

She picked it up off of the desk and spoke into it. “I’m ready.” And then, in a hushed voice, “Hurry up.”

It seemed her rescue had finally arrived. Thank God for that. 

She glanced over at Dave’s office warily, but couldn’t tell if he was still keeping an eye on her. It would probably be best if she left as soon as she could, just in case he tried to hold her up even further.

With that in mind, she stood up from her desk, hastily shoved the radio into its holster on her belt, gathered up the rest of her things, and left. On the way out she said goodbye to the receptionist, a kindly old woman by the name of Shelby. 

Molly trudged down the stairs in front of the police station and waited for Sam to arrive. Seeing as he was out on patrol with the cruiser and she had been stuck at the station all day, Sam had elected to pick her up and drive her home.

It was a nice gesture, but Molly had a different idea. 

As it turned out, she only had to stand outside for a second before Sam pulled up. He waved at her as she began walking towards the car, but she didn’t reciprocate and gestured for him to get over into the passenger seat.

Shooting her a confused look, he got out and went around to the other side. “Hey there,” he said as they passed each other, “What’s goin’ on?”

Molly didn’t respond and very stiffly got into the car. She sat there, staring off somewhere down the street, unblinking. As Sam got in, he noticed her expression. “Everythin’ okay?” he asked.

She shook her head almost imperceptibly and grit her teeth. “Shit! Shit! SHIT!” With every word, she slammed her paw on the steering wheel.

If Sam was taken aback by her sudden outburst, he didn’t show it. He stayed unflappable. “…What happened in there?”

Molly sighed and glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, her paws still gripping the wheel tight. “He’s definitely on to us. He knows we’re suspicious of him. Of all of them.”

Sam’s face fell. “You sure?”

“Yeah. He practically threatened me just now and forbade us from looking any further into Mae’s missing person. Not even to mention today’s blatant display of power by keeping me here all day.”

“Shit,” he said plainly.

“Yeah…”

The both of them were silent for a minute, lost in their own thoughts.

“So what now?” Sam asked. “We can’t just give up.”

“No,” Molly agreed. “Fuck Dave and everyone else. We have to keep investigating this. We must be getting close to _something_. I can feel it. We’re backing them into a corner and they’re feeling threatened.”

“Tell me about it.” Sam huffed. “At least Dave only had you tied up with paperwork all day. I had to spend most of today bein’ carted all over everywhere by the town council. They’re bein’ purposefully obstructive, even more so now.”

She nodded in understanding. “We have to figure this out soon—before they cover up whatever evidence is left before we can get to it.”

“I know.”

Molly sighed and then put the car in gear. “Let’s get going then.”

Sam put his seatbelt on as they turned out onto the road. “Where we headed?”

“The old mine. I want to see if there’s been any activity out there lately. That’s the direction Mae said her ‘ghost’ was headed, and me and Dan never got that good a look at it.”

“He try and steer you away from there again?”

“Tried to. Kept going on about how no one would’ve gone out that far and how it was a waste of our time. Bunch of bullshit, really, but I pushed for it and he eventually relented. Spent about five minutes there before he rushed us out. I figured we could take a look of our own today.”

“Okay. Sounds like a plan.”

They lapsed into silence after that.

Thankfully, it wasn’t that long of a drive up to the old mine, or as close as you could get in a car. The road, which had never been in that great a shape to begin with, had deteriorated significantly over the years, and anyone who wanted to get to the mine had to park a ways away and hike up the rail line on foot.

It was a walk the two of them had taken plenty of times in recent years. The mine had become of interest to them as of late, and though there was strong evidence that something was going on up there, they had never managed to find any concrete proof.

Maybe this time there would be something. They could only be so lucky.

Once they had parked the car on the side of the road, they began the trek up to the mine. They walked one behind the other, the both of them keeping their eyes peeled for anything suspicious.

After a couple of minutes, Sam spoke up. “So, we never really got a chance to talk ‘bout it earlier. You really think your niece saw someone get kidnapped the other night?”

Molly mulled the question over before responding. “…I don’t really know. I don’t think she’d make something like this up. You know how she is—She may be a troublemaker, but she’s not…malicious, and she’s not a liar, however much Dave says she is.” 

She paused, stepping over a downed tree. “I think she saw _something_ that night. Whether or not it was someone getting kidnapped, I couldn’t say. Me and Dan were all over these woods that night and I didn’t find anything.”

Sam nodded. “And what do you want it to be?”

“I don’t know.” She scoffed. “If she was mistaken, then there’s nothing to worry about. But…” She glanced back behind her, at Sam. “But if she did see someone get kidnapped, then it’s the biggest lead we’ve ever had. I have to hold on to the hope that this thing will be smoking gun that’ll lead us to whoever’s been taking all those people.”

Up ahead, they finally came to the old rail lines. Rusted, broken mine carts littered the ground. They were close now.

“And if Mae really did see what she says she did, then she could be in a lot of danger right now. If this person decides to try and kill her for what she’s seen, I…I don’t think I could save her.” She grimaced. “These people have gone undetected for years now. They could take her too, and no one would ever be the wiser.”

Sam didn’t respond, so she continued. “I called Candy earlier, to see if anything was going on. Mae’s out in town somewhere and they don’t know when she’ll get home. I can only hope she’s not trying to investigate this thing herself.”

“You think she’d do that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. When I saw her yesterday, I tried to disparage her a little—tried to persuade her that nothing was going on. But she’s stubborn and defiant, especially with me, and I’m sure I just drove her to do something about it herself.”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

“You can’t know that, though.”

“Sure I can.” He drew up beside her, walking side-by-side. “She’s a Borowski. They can’t kill a Borowski in this town and have no one notice.”

“They could make it look like an accident.”

Sam frowned. “She’ll be fine, Molly. She can handle herself. She’s strong, like you. She wouldn’t go down without a fight.”

“…Yeah, I know. That’s what worries me. She’s in the middle of all this now, and she has even less of a clue of what’s going on than we do.”

“Ehh.” He waved a hand dismissively. “You worry ‘bout her too much anyways. The way you go on sometimes, you’d think she’s your own kid.”

She glared at him, taken aback. “Of course I care about her. She’s my niece. We may be at odds more often than not and she may not like me very much, but she’s still family. What am I supposed to do?”

“I dunno.” He shrugged, conceding the point. “It’s just endearin’ is all. You worry too much ‘bout everyone—not just Mae.”

“Oh, and you don’t worry about everyone? That’s literally your job.”

“Yeah.” He grinned. “But I only worry when I need to. And right now, I don’t. Everything’s gonna be fine.”

“Uh-huh… If you say so.”

“I do. Trust me on that, Molly.”

It was then that they made it to their destination. The old Stafford Mine appeared in front of them through the trees. Years ago, this was the lifeblood of the town, and now it was just yet another dead thing.

As they approached, they could clearly see that the gates were still locked up tight. Everything looked completely untouched. There weren’t any signs of life. It seemed just as abandoned as it was supposed to be.

But they knew better than that. Every so often, things would change up here, and if they weren’t specifically looking out for it, they would never see it. They had extensively cataloged this area many a time. They knew several people came and went from this place, frequently enough that it was suspicious, but never enough to ever be noticed by anyone else.

Molly scanned the ground outside, looking for any new footprints, but didn’t find any that weren’t her’s or Dan’s from before. Nothing much was disturbed since she had seen it the night of Harfest, which made sense. Whoever was up here wouldn’t want to return so soon, especially not after they had been seen.

Meanwhile, Sam walked up to the gates, turned on a flashlight, and peered inside the tunnel. At first glance, it didn’t appear that anything had changed, but then he noticed something that definitely hadn’t been like that before. 

“Oh—Oh jeez! Hey Molly, come quick!”

Molly jumped at the excitement in his voice and came rushing over. “What? You see something?”

Wordlessly, he shone his flashlight on the wall of the tunnel, just inside the entrance. One of the wooden support beams had been snapped in two—violently.

“Shit,” Molly said, “That’s new.”

“Yeah.”

“What do you think?”

“I dunno. It definitely didn’t snap on its own. Look—” He pointed at the edges of the break. “—You can see claw marks on the wood. Either someone snapped it on purpose or someone had been clingin’ on to it for dear life as they were bein’ dragged away.”

She nodded and shone her own light into the tunnel. “There’s what looks like dried blood on the ground too. Looks like our missing person woke up and tried to fight back.”

“Good for them. Maybe this means that things are starting to go our way.”

“Yeah, except for the fact we’re locked out.” Molly rattled the gate uselessly. “Just when there’s some hard, concrete evidence…” She sighed. “God damn, if only we could get in there.”

“Well, if we could get in there, this whole thing would’ve been over years ago. Who knows what they’re hidin’ in there.” 

“I know. Believe me, I know.” She took a step back “You wanna get some pictures then?”

“Yeah.”

He took a small camera out of one of his pockets and snapped a few photos of the broken beam and the blood. Even if they couldn’t get any physical samples, the pictures would still be invaluable in the case they were building.

“Alrighty,” he said when he was done, “Got that. Did you find anythin’ else?”

She shook her head. “No. Looks like whatever happened here went down further inside the mine. There’s nothing more we can do right now.”

“You sure?”

“I am.” She glanced up at the rapidly darkening sky. “It’s getting late anyways. We should get going.”

Sam took one last look around the area, eyeing the top of the cliff that overlooked the entrance. “You don’t wanna hide out and see if anyone comes by?”

“Not tonight, no. They won’t be coming down here for at least a few more days after everything that’s been happening. They’re too cautious to do something like that, especially now that they know we’re watching them.”

“…I guess that makes sense.” He was clearly a little disappointed at being unable to stake out the place, and Molly knew exactly why.

She patted him on the back, smirking widely. “Don’t worry. We can try out the night vision on your new camera some other time, alright?”

He rolled his eyes and stuffed said camera back into his pocket. “Yeah, okay.”

“Come on. Let’s go.”

They walked back down to their car in silence. 

At one point, Molly heard a noise and thought someone might have been following them, but it turned out to only be a deer. Sam managed to get a picture of it.

By the time they finally got back to the car, night had fallen. 

This time, Sam got into the driver’s seat and Molly in the passenger side. He was going to be dropping her off at her house before heading home himself, just like they normally did.

The roads were significantly emptier than when they first drove up, so they made good time. Most everyone was already home by this time of night.

As they got back into town proper, Sam spoke up. “I don’t think we should even go into the station tomorrow morning. Don’t give ‘em a chance to try and hold us up again.”

“Good idea.” She chuckled. “But I won’t be going in tomorrow anyways. I actually have to go over to Saltztown. They finished analyzing the arm and I wanna go get the information personally.”

“Oh. Finally!” He drummed his hands on the wheel. “They sure took their time, didn’t they?” And then, “Does Dave know?”

“No, actually. I got the tech to call me personally when he was done. He left a message last night.”

“Oh yeah? How’d you manage that? You put that patented Molly Williams charm on him? Offer the guy a date or somethin’?”

Molly laughed. “No no. I know him from back in the academy. He’s owed me a favor for a while now and I cashed it in.”

“Ah. I see.” He smiled. “Thank God for that then. I was worried Dave was gonna tamper with the report or somethin’ before handin’ it off to us.”

“Me too. I figured this was important enough to pull some strings. I just hope it gives us some real actionable information, you know? Something needs to give soon, or we may be in serious trouble.”

Sam hummed in affirmation. “Well, if all else fails, we’ll just have to break into the mines and see what’s goin’ on there. I know we need an airtight case and all, but if they start actually comin’ after us, we’ll have to, legality be damned.”

“I know. I’d just hate to put it all at risk like that.”

“I’m sure we could get extenuating circumstances if need be.”

“Or something.”

“Or somethin’, yeah.” He glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

They pulled up in front of Molly’s apartment shortly after. Sam parked the car across the street, as all the spots right in front had been taken.

Molly unbuckled her seatbelt and made to open the car door. “Thanks for coming out today.”

“Of course. Wouldn’t miss it.”

And with that, she got out of the car. Before she closed the door, Sam called out to her. “Stay safe. Call me ‘fore you leave tomorrow.”

She turned back towards him, smiling softly. “Will do. Bye, Sam.”

“See ya, Mol.”

Placing her hat back on her head, she shut the door and crossed the street to her apartment. As she stood just outside the entrance, she turned and waved at Sam, who still hadn’t driven off yet. 

He waved back at her and then pulled back out onto the street, heading off in the direction he lived.

Molly watched him drive away until he turned the corner and disappeared from sight.

And then she went inside.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't have much to say here. Not too happy with this one because it goes all over the place, but whatever. I really enjoy writing Molly and we get to see her interact with a couple different people here, including her sister.
> 
> Only one chapter left!


	4. The Truth

  


_~The Truth~_

  


  


Molly stood there, just outside the Snack Falcon, quietly watching the people walking down the street.

It had been one hell of a week, to put it lightly. Quite possibly one of the most hectic weeks in her entire life, as a matter of fact, and it hadn’t gotten any better over the past few days. If anything, it had definitely gotten worse.

First off, just four days ago, she and Sam found her niece in the woods, injured and completely delirious. Her friends said they’d been shot at by hunters and that she’d fallen down a hill. When they dragged her out of the woods, she wasn’t even conscious, and no one could get ahold of Doctor Hank, so they had to bring her to the church.

The next day, after she got back from the hospital, she wandered away from her house and over to her friend’s place. Just about gave Candy and Stan a heart attack until she called to tell them she was alright. Molly was all ready to go out searching for her again.

And then sometime during that night, twenty-one people vanished without a trace, without any signs of a struggle.

Overnight, twenty-one prominent members of the community were gone.

The mayor, Richard Thornton.

Town councilmen Gary Cullen and Andrew Davis.

Police chief David Reed.

Lieutenant Dan McConnell.

Doctor Hank Milner.

Former pastor, Bennie Thompson.

Lonny Brunner, the high school principal.

John Stafford, whose family used to own the mines.

Paul Culson, whose family still owns the factories.

Leonard Applebaum, grandson of Arnold A. Applebaum.

Roy Burge, who had first owned the Ol’ Pickaxe.

Thomas Miller, of Miller’s Sports Bar

And nine other equally important individuals.

Several of them had been under Molly and Sam’s scrutiny. Dave, Rick, Bennie, Dan, Gary, and Andrew.

They were all gone.

Vanished into the night.

Since then, the town was in complete disarray. She and Sam were the only real authority left anymore, what with the mayor’s office and the town council in complete shambles. They were real lucky the media hadn’t caught wind of anything yet, because they’d be flocking to this town looking for answers and attracting all sorts of untoward attention.

Technically speaking, she was the acting-police chief now, though there wasn’t really anyone left to instate her legally. That meant she was in charge of pretty much everything and most everyone was looking to her to find all these missing people. She and Sam were the only police officers in the entire town, and they had a lot on their plate. 

The people of Possum Springs were in a full-blown panic. The realization that so many people had gone missing overnight had caused chaos. There were hysterical wives and concerned family members calling her just about every minute they could hoping for news. Not only were she and Sam being run ragged trying to figure just what had happened, but they also had to keep the entire town calm.

Molly had to hold an emergency meeting yesterday just to reassure everyone that they were doing everything they could to find the people who were missing. It was only a matter of time until they were found, she had told them.

Truth was, she had no idea where anyone was. Sure, she had a strong suspicion they were in the mine, but there were no other clues, no leads, and no one was coming forward with any information. The investigation was dead in the water.

But she had a hunch. She had a feeling that she couldn’t ignore.

That was why she was outside the Snack Falcon so late in the day. 

She knew Mae would be coming by at some point.

Call it a gut feeling, but it was Molly’s belief that Mae and her friends knew something about what happened. It was no coincidence that they’d been shot at, and she certainly didn’t believe their flimsy story about some hunters mistaking them for game. Why would her friends just abandon Mae in the woods like that? She hadn’t believed it before and she certainly did not believe it now. 

No, Mae’s friends had been terrified when they’d come to her. Their story was about as real as the ghost of Little Joe. They had seen something that they felt they had to cover up. Molly was sure that they knew something, and all she had to do was to pry it out of them. Or, Mae specifically. 

But, of course, when she had gone by Mae’s house earlier in the afternoon, she hadn’t been home. She had even tried calling Candy to see if she knew where her daughter was, but had no luck. She was out somewhere in town, she had been told.

With no way to find exactly where she was, Molly decided to try to head her off up in town somewhere. She figured that Mae would be by to see the Lee boy at some point in the day, so the Snack Falcon would be the perfect place to intercept her niece.

And it seemed as if she was right.

Within an hour, Mae came walking up the sidewalk, looking just as lackadaisical as ever. She had clearly gotten over her injuries from the other day. She seemed perfectly fine.

As Mae got closer, Molly stepped out into her niece’s path, blocking her. “Mae.” She rested her paws on her hips. “Hold up a second, will you?”

Mae ground to a halt, staring defiantly up at Molly. “What?” she asked flatly, seemingly unconcerned by her aunt’s appearance. Or, at the very least, trying very hard to appear unconcerned. Molly noted the barest hints of a twitch in her eyes.

“…How about you and I go have a little chat, huh?” Molly smiled down at Mae.

“Uhh…” Mae refused to meet her gaze. “I have some plans already, so I’ll have to take a raincheck on that. Sorry.” And with that, she turned around and started walking back from where she just came from. Whatever plans she had clearly weren’t that important if she was walking away.

“Mae.” Molly lunged forward and grabbed ahold of her niece’s arm, stopping her in her tracks. “Please just come with me.”

“No.” Mae jerked her arm out from Molly’s grasp and made to move away. “You’ll just have to arrest me. Don’t you have better things to be doing than harassing millennials?”

Molly sighed. “Mae, please. I’m off duty right now.” She gestured at her lack of a police uniform. “I’m not asking as a cop, I’m asking you as your aunt. Please, I’d like to talk to you about something important.”

Mae stood there for a moment, facing away from Molly. Then, with a growl, she turned around. “Fine,” she said in a huff, “What’s so important?”

“Not here.” Molly began walking, gesturing for Mae to follow. “This’ll take a while and I’d like to be comfortable while we talk.”

Mae didn’t move at first, still clearly reluctant to be doing this. She didn’t even acknowledge her aunt as she walked away. It was only as she realized where exactly Molly was going that she even turned to watch. She had gone right next door, starting up the stairs to Miller’s Sports Bar.

Molly stopped when she got to the top, quite aware that Mae hadn’t moved from her spot. She turned around, looking expectantly down at her. “You coming?”

Mae stared up at the steps with a strange apprehension. “Miller’s? I can’t go in there.”

Molly blinked and shot Mae a puzzled look. “…Why not?”

“Well… I mean, I’m only twenty for starters.”

She shrugged and held the door open for the younger cat. “I’m not gonna arrest you for entering a bar underage. I’ll even buy you a drink if you want it.”

Mae grimaced, taking a hesitant step forward. “Ahh… No thanks.” Then, seemingly almost forcing herself forward, she hurried up the stairs.

Molly frowned at the tone of her voice, suddenly understanding things a little better. Miller’s was the bar Mae’s dad frequented back when she was little, back before he had to stop drinking. She’d probably never been inside before. Probably never wanted to for that matter.

As Mae met her at the top, Molly wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Hey…” she said, her voice soft, “You know having a couple of drinks isn’t gonna make you like your dad used to be, right? He had a problem, but he managed to get better with all of our help. He’s a good person. He loves you and your mom a lot.”

“I know that… It-it’s just…” She shook her head, and then continued in a much harder tone of voice. “I’m fine. Let’s just go.” 

And with that, Mae abruptly broke away from the embrace and pushed through the doors, leaving Molly standing on the stoop, thoroughly nonplussed by the sudden change in attitude. This was why she never wanted kids of her own, she thought. They were too much of a handful. 

Following Mae inside, the bar was completely empty, with the sole exception of Thomas Miller’s son, Jacob, who had taken over for his father after he had disappeared. Whether it was because it was only noon, or because of all the disappearances, it didn’t appear that anyone else in town wanted to go drinking at the moment, which was fine with Molly. All the more privacy for the two of them.

She guided Mae towards her usual booth in the back and asked Jacob to get a water for each of them. She had fully intended to get a beer or two while they talked, but she didn’t want to remind Mae of her dad’s drinking problem any more than she had already. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t a good idea to bring her to a bar, but it had already been too late.

They sat down at the table and waited for Jacob to bring the drinks over. Mae stared wide-eyed around the room, drinking in everything for the first time. It was almost endearing, Molly thought, if she knew Mae wasn’t equating everything in the place to what had almost torn her family apart.

It was only when Jacob came over with their drinks that Mae snapped back to attention and seemed to remember why she was there. Molly stared across the table with a practiced look that made Mae fidget in her seat. She carefully studied her niece’s expression, hoping to ascertain just what exactly she was thinking.

Mae seemed scared, foremost. Nervous, certainly, and a little sad. Her breathing was a little shallow and her eyes never quite met Molly’s. She was hiding something, to be sure. Molly just wasn’t sure if it was anything pertinent. 

Eventually, Mae blinked and took in a deep breath that seemed to steady her nerves. She looked at Molly, a scowl crossing her face. “Well, Margaret,” she said, using her aunt’s full name, “Start talking. Why’d you drag me in here?”

Molly leaned forward, smiling slightly. This was the Mae she knew. Proud, combative, and brash. “Well, _Margaret_ , I’ll be frank. I don’t believe for one minute that you were shot at by some hunters the other night. Me and Sam were the ones who fished you out of the woods and we didn’t see anything that suggested that.”

Mae stiffened at her words, but kept a level expression otherwise. “…Okay?”

“I didn’t want to press you while you were still recovering and all, but now that all these people have gone missing, I’m afraid I have no other choice.” She put on a serious tone to her voice. “Mae, I need you to tell me what really happened to you and your friends that night, because my gut tells me its connected to these disappearances.”

Mae opened her mouth to respond, protest clearly evident in her face, but Molly held up a paw to silence her. “Now, I’m not accusing you of anything. I don’t think you were involved with whatever happened, and I will promise you that, no matter what, you and your friends will not get in any trouble.” 

Molly sighed and took a second to collect the rest of her thoughts. “I know we’ve had our differences in the past, Mae, but you’re still my niece and my goddaughter. I love you—and I only want what’s best for you and this town. That’s why I need you to tell me if you know anything about what’s going on.”

At that, Molly leaned back in her seat and watched her niece’s reaction. For the most part, Mae was silent. Her previous bravado had slipped away and had been replaced by a very blank look that Molly wasn’t quite sure what to make of. She wrung her paws together almost absentmindedly before responding.

“…No. I, uh, don’t know anything.”

Molly wasn’t convinced. “Are you sure about that?”

“Yeah. We were shot at by some hunters and I fell and hit my head. It sucks, but that’s what happened. Don’t know what else to tell you.”

Thoroughly unimpressed, Molly frowned and cast a questioning glare across the table. “Are you being threatened by anyone, Mae? Are you afraid someone’s going to harm you or your friends or family?”

“No!” She sat up straight in her seat, her paws clutching the edge of the table tight. “No. No one’s threatening me. I really don’t know anything. Really.”

Molly bit back a sigh. Of course it wasn’t going to be that easy. Nothing was ever that simple or easy with Mae involved.

She stared at Mae for a few more moments before exhaling slowly. It was time, she knew. She had thought long and hard about the best course of action going forward, and she was taking a huge leap of faith here. This was going to take a long time to get through and she wasn’t entirely sure if Mae would even be amenable by the end of it. She had a strong feeling in her gut though, and that had seen through everything else so far, so that was good enough for her. She took a swig of her water before continuing.

“I’m gonna tell you something. This is something that only one other person beside myself knows. Anyone else who might’ve been aware of it has since disappeared. I want you to be quiet, listen to what I have to say, and then I’m gonna ask you again if there’s anything you want to tell me. You understand?”

Mae nodded gently, clearly unsure where this was going.

Molly cradled her glass, staring down at the table. This was going to be tough. She hadn’t told anyone this before. At least, not in such a clear, concise way. Sure, she had given Sam the abridged version some years ago, but this was something more. She had spent the entirety of last night going through all her memories to figure out just what she had to say and how to say it. It would be good practice if she ever had to testify in court.

She began speaking, quickly finding the words easier to say as she went along. “Over the past twenty-three years, thirty-two people have gone missing from Possum Springs and the surrounding areas—Maybe even more. I honestly can’t be sure about the exact number.

“This was first brought to my attention in 1994, when a homeless man by the name of Jerry Marshall came to me to report the disappearance of a friend of his. In his own words, his buddy never would’ve left without saying goodbye, and as such, he was sure that he’d been kidnapped. So, naturally, I agreed to look into it. 

“Now, as I had only been on the police force for two years at that point, I conferred with the chief, David Reed, on what to do. It was my first time doing anything of the sort, and I wanted to be sure I got it right. But, after explaining things to him, he told me in as many words to drop the investigation because it wasn’t worth the department’s time.

“I’d like to say that I protested that decision, but I didn’t. I’m sorry to say that, against my better judgement, I dropped it. I wasn’t proud of it then, and I’m certainly not proud of it now. But, at the time, I trusted him and didn’t want to risk my job any. I believed he knew what he was doing…but he wasn’t the one that had to go find that man Jerry and tell him that there was nothing I could do for him or his friend. 

“Then, not even a year later, another man named Phil Smith went missing. Now, Phil had been living up in the north side of town for years, but had recently fallen on some hard times. He’d lost his job, his wife, started doing drugs, and had been couch-surfing for a couple of months. And, one day, he vanished without a trace. What friends and family he was still in contact with noticed he was gone, and an official investigation was launched. Me and a senior officer, Dan McConnell, were in charge of that.

“Except that ended up not going anywhere either. I had discovered several promising pieces of evidence that clearly showed foul play was involved, but Dan refused to acknowledge any of it, seemingly turning a blind eye to the facts. I decided right after that I had to go behind his back and report to Dave directly about what I _knew_ was a kidnapping or a murder. Phil was a part of this town, after all. He needed to be found.

“But that next day, when I went into his office with all the information I had found, it turned out that the most crucial piece of evidence had somehow disappeared from the police station. I was dead in the water, and Dan adamantly refused to corroborate anything I was saying. The investigation was dropped, I was told once again not to bother with things like that, and Phil was never found.

“I was furious when that happened. Me and Dan have never been on good terms since then. I couldn’t prove it, but I knew that he deliberately destroyed that evidence in an attempt to stop the investigation. The only thing I could never figure out was why he would do something like that.

“So, sometime after that, I decided to look into some things on my own time. At first, I looked into what previous missing persons reports we had on file in the station, just to get a basis on what had been going on in the past. What was surprising was the fact that there was virtually nothing on any missing persons over the past ten years. Now, while Dave never bothered much with paperwork, that struck me as very odd. What little information there was was woefully incomplete and had never seemed to be investigated in any capacity. 

“Next, I went and talked with some of the drifters that came in off the trains. What few that were willing to talk to me, told me how several of their buddies had vanished when they came to Possum Springs and were never seen again. What they told me didn’t match up at all with the handful of reports we had on file at the station. There were almost double the amount of people missing than what had been officially recorded, and a lot of the crusties had given up reporting them all together because nothing was ever done.

“It was clear to me then that both Dave and Dan was willfully ignoring most every missing persons report that came to us and was suppressing the very few that they couldn’t just brush under the table. At the time, I had no idea why they would do something like that. I thought, maybe, that they didn’t want to deal with the hassle of a missing person, and so decided not to bother with them. I didn’t want to think too badly of them, because they seemed to be good and decent people otherwise, but that kind of complacency didn’t sit right with me.

“So, a couple of months later, the next time that someone went missing, I decided to bring all the evidence I found directly to the mayor, Rick Thornton. I figured that when I laid everything out for him, he could force Dave to do his job and justice would be served. Only, when I made my case, he shot me down just the same, for much of the same reasons Dave provided. He told me that it wasn’t worth the time and effort to look for this person—as if they were lesser than everyone else.

“He assured me that he wouldn’t tell Dave that I went behind his back, but forced me to drop the matter entirely. It made me sick, but I agreed, because I couldn’t see any other way forward. Both the mayor and the police chief were of a similar mind and another disappearance in this town would go unsolved because the authorities didn’t seem to care.”

Molly paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts some. She had been talking for a while now, but Mae had been listening with rapt attention the entire time. Molly was pleased with that. Mae wasn’t one to sit still for long, so she hoped it meant she was beginning to come around. 

She took another sip of her water before continuing. Her throat was a little dry. “…Then, in June of 1999, a girl named Abigail Garde went missing. She came from a nice family—she was the cheer captain, her father managed the Food Donkey and her mother was in the high school PTA. I felt bad for the family because I thought that Dave would just ignore her like all the others.

“So imagine my surprise when he organized a huge search party to try and find her. He personally oversaw the investigation himself and pulled out all the stops to find that girl. Initially, I was shocked that he would reverse his position like that so suddenly, though it was obvious why. He didn’t care for the homeless or the poor, but Abagail and her family were apparently an important enough part of the community to warrant finding her.

“And, in the end, it was all for naught, because she turned up the next night all on her own. She and her boyfriend had gone off in the woods and gotten drunk or something. She was perfectly fine and everyone was so happy to have found her. She ended up getting pregnant, I think.

“But that incident really showed me Dave’s true colors. He didn’t care about what was right and it made me realize that he wasn’t a good person like I had thought. To me, being a police officer means protecting everyone, no matter who they are or how they live their lives. We serve and protect the public, but Dave and Dan and Rick only seemed to care about a select few individuals, at the detriment of the others.

“After that incident, things returned to normal. Whenever a missing persons report came in, I never brought it up with Dave again. He had made it perfectly clear by then that if I ever pursued one any further than filing an initial report about it, he would shut me down.

“So I made the decision, that if I wasn’t going to be allowed to investigate a disappearance in any official capacity, then I would just have to do it on my own time. I figured there was nothing stopping me from trying my best to find these people by myself. It wouldn’t be nearly the same, but it was as good as they were ever going to get.

“Over the next few years, I kept my ear to the ground and laid low. There was no point in filing a complaint with the state, because I knew they probably wouldn’t care about it either. That sort of thing happens a lot more in big cities anyways. It would have to take something big to get them to come in and intervene.

“I know for certain that a few more people went missing during the next few years—lowlifes, drifters, and the like—but I’m sure a lot more went missing that I never heard about. Their very nature made it incredibly difficult to know anything for certain. A lot of those people fall through the cracks, especially back then.

“Unfortunately, nothing much came of it. I never found a single person or any significant evidence that that they were being kidnapped or murdered or what have you. For years, they kept on disappearing and I could never figure out why. They simply…vanished, and there wasn’t a thing I could do to find them. I let them all down…”

Molly broke off, uncomfortable with the feelings associated with that memory. It hadn’t been a good time for her, and just thinking about everyone she had failed was enough to distract from the task at hand.

Shaking those thoughts from her head, she pressed on.

“It wasn’t until 2008 that I discovered something even more was going on. Me and another officer by the name of Sam Hutchins, who had only been with for about a year at that point, were up out in the woods on the east side of town looking into a report about some strange noises. Some of the folks who lived up there had been hearing things out by the old mine, so we went and took a look, figuring it was just some kids or something. 

“Now, I don’t wanna get it too much detail about this here specifically, because this _is_ still an ongoing investigation—of a sort. And, really, the specifics don’t matter as much anyways. All you really need to know is that while we were out there, me and Sam stumbled onto something big that put us on the trail of what turned out to be a large-scale conspiracy that involved several members of this town.

“Now, prior to all that, Sam had been going through much of the same thing I had been with the missing persons. I watched as he unsuccessfully tried to get Dave to look into one other disappearance and was told to drop it as well. He was clearly just as frustrated by it all as I was.

“Despite that, I never told him about what I had been doing with my own investigations. I didn’t really trust him at the time and there honestly wasn’t much to tell anyways. But after that day in the woods, I decided to confide in him about my own experiences and just how far some of the people in this town were willing to go to bury the truth about certain matters. Together, we decided to look further into just what was really going on in this town.

“It’s been over nine years now since then. All the information we’ve managed to find is circumstantial at best, but what it all points to is incredibly damning. I had originally thought that this thing was contained to the police force and maybe a couple of people in the mayor’s office, but it’s so much more than that. 

“There’s a secret society here in town. I don’t know how long they’ve been here, but it’s been decades at least, and they have a hold on just about everything. We’re only able to speculate about what exactly they were up to, but we’ve found evidence of embezzlement, blackmail, bribery, and tax evasion, among numerous other things. As far as we could tell, this group consisted of about fifteen people, from all different walks of life around town. We know for a fact that these people met in secret at the old Stafford Mine, which is now conveniently collapsed and completely inaccessible. Anything more than those facts is pure conjecture. 

“Those fifteen people we suspected were a part of the twenty-one individuals that disappeared a few days ago, which is highly suspicious in its own right. I don’t know what happened to them all, but it’s no coincidence they disappeared. 

“For the past eight years, we’ve been building an ironclad case against these individuals. We’ve been steadily collecting whatever evidence we can find, but we’ve never been able to find the lynchpin—the smoking gun—that would prove their guilt beyond a doubt, and without that I could never go to the federal government with this. I have so much circumstantial evidence that I’ve run out of places to hide it, but it does me no good because no court would find it admissible and the FBI wouldn’t take me seriously. I would’ve loved to break into that mine and found out exactly what they were doing down there, but without a proper warrant, nothing I would find would matter.”

And up next was the really hard part. If Molly was right, Mae already knew something about these people. She was certain that her niece and her friends had met them the other night, and that she probably knew more about them then even she or Sam did. She couldn’t be sure, but she could see a faint glimmer of recognition and comprehension in Mae’s eyes as she had been speaking.

But what she had to say next was nothing but a theory on her part, but it was one that both she and Sam agreed on wholeheartedly. This was the most important part of the whole speech, because if Mae knew _anything_ at all, Molly could only hope that this would spur her into giving up any information. Or, in the event that she knew about it already, then maybe she would feel more at ease corroborating.

Molly continued, taking care to speak precisely and firmly.

“And even though I’ve never found any evidence directly linking the two, I’m thoroughly convinced that this group has been behind the numerous disappearances this town has seen over the years. That’s why Dave and Dan and Rick never let me look into anything. They weren’t simply ignoring all those missing people because they didn’t care or couldn’t be bothered, they were the ones actively kidnapping them. They stonewalled me with the express purpose of burying an investigation into people they themselves had kidnapped.

“Now, I couldn’t tell you why these guys have been kidnapping all those people. I can only speculate. That exact thing has been the main focus of our investigation for the past few years now, but we’ve never managed to discover anything. Out of everything they’ve been doing, they’ve managed to keep a lid on that. Like I said, getting into that mine would’ve solved everything, but there’s nothing to do about it now.”

As Molly finally slowed to a halt, she herself felt relieved. It really felt good to say all that to another person, even if that person was Mae. She looked at her niece, praying that this whole thing wasn’t for naught.

Mae sat there, her eyes downcast, practically glued to the tabletop. She didn’t move save for the gentle rise and fall of her chest. Molly understood it was a lot to take in all at once, so she wasn’t overly concerned by Mae’s reaction. It seemed to her that she was taking all that information fairly well, considering.

Molly reached out across the table, taking one of Mae’s paws in her own. This was risky, what she was about to do, but if she was reading the situation right, it could just be the last push Mae needed. She could only hope it wouldn’t push her away further.

“I… I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but I think that’s what happened to your friend Casey. I don’t think he hopped a train and left town. I’m almost certain that he was kidnapped as well.”

Mae didn’t even react, so Molly pressed on, but found the words harder to get out. She knew just how special of a friendship Mae and Casey had had. For all their faults, the two of them had been the best of friends. She couldn’t imagine how Mae felt at that moment.

“Now… I’m sure he’s still alive.” She smiled gently, hoping to assuage any fears Mae had. “I don’t know where he is or what condition he may be in, but we’ll find him. We’ll find him and all the others, and get to the bottom of this whole thing. I promise you that.” She bowed her head in deference. “…I promise you.”

But still, Mae didn’t give any indication she heard a thing she had just said. Molly squeezed Mae’s paws tighter, which seemed to snap her out of it somewhat. Mae jerked her paws away and placed them in her lap under the table, her entire body trembling.

She was clearly distressed, but who wouldn’t be in this situation? Never mind the mountain of information she had just dumped on her niece, but the fact that one of her best friends might not have run away after all? It was enough to upset anyone. She as sure couldn’t imagine herself in this situation.

Still, the ends justified the means. Molly believed that wholeheartedly. If Mae had any information about anything at all, then she needed to know it. Mae needed to see that Molly had her best interests at heart. She needed to come clean.

And, if it turned out that Mae didn’t know anything…

Well, then she just traumatized her niece for absolutely no reason. And given away classified details of a high-profile case.

But Molly couldn’t think about that. She couldn’t even entertain the notion that she just did all that for no reason.

Mae knew something.

Of that she was sure.

And now it was time to coax that information out of her.

“Do you know why I’m telling all this to you, Mae?” The words were soft-spoken, but clear and concise.

After a moment’s hesitation, her niece nodded—just barely. 

Hope swelled in Molly’s chest at that. She did know something!

Thank God.

Thank you, God!

Molly pressed further, barely able to keep the excitement in her voice under control. “Mae, do you have anything you want to tell me?”

Mae squeezed her eyes shut but didn’t say anything. She shook violently, as if trying her hardest not to cry.

Now she had to offer more platitudes and reassurances. Anything to convince Mae that everything would be okay. That she would be okay. She already believed it, but she just had to make Mae believe it too.

“I won’t be angry with you, alright? Whatever it is, no matter what you say, I won’t arrest you. Right now, I don’t care about the law. I just want to know what happened to these people. Where are they?”

There was a moment’s pause.

And finally, Mae spoke, her voice dry and unsteady. “…T-they’re in the mine...”

Molly nodded in understanding. That had been what she’d thought. It made sense, considering the cave in. Something had happened and they were trapped down there, dying a slow death. Part of her thought it served them right, but the police side of her would’ve preferred to see them brought to justice.

Next was the big question. This was the one thing they’d never been able to prove, and if Mae knew any information about this, then it could very well blow this thing wide open.

“Did you find out what they were doing with all the people they kidnapped? Where are they keeping them?”

Mae didn’t answer at first. She flinched away at the question, as if it had physically stung her. After a moment, she spoke, her voice nothing more than a whisper. “…They’re all down there.”

Molly caught the meaning, but could barely believe it. “…You mean _everyone?_ Everyone that’s gone missing is still down there?”

Another nod.

Molly leaned back in her seat, cupping a paw over her mouth in shock. They were all still down there? They’d been keeping everyone prisoner down there for all these years! She had never even considered that they’d kept them all so close. Her prevailing theory had always been that they were involved with human trafficking, or at the very worst, some sort of sex slavery thing. But…

“We have to get them out then!” she concluded, speaking aloud now. “I can get a blasting crew to try and clear the blockage. If we hurry, we might be able to get them out before it’s too late. I never would’ve thought they were keeping all those people down there for all these years. If I had known…” She couldn’t find the end to that sentence. “…I would’ve done something…”

“They killed them all.” The sentence hung in the air, cutting off Molly’s entire train of thought.

Her heart skipped a beat.

 _“Killed?”_ The word echoed in her mind, filling up every space. It even tasted bitter on her tongue. “They’re d-dead?”

“…They sacrificed them.” Mae continued, looking up to meet Molly’s eyes now, “To a god that lived in the mines.” 

Now it was Molly’s turn to be shocked speechless.

It took her a couple of seconds to even process what Mae had said.

Killed.

They had killed them.

Dave and Dan and all those others had killed other people.

She had been working beside murderers for decades now. Interacting with them. Talking to them.

That thought had never crossed her mind, that they’d been _killing_ them. She had accepted the fact long ago that they’d been selling everyone into slavery, but _this?_ This was something else entirely.

And then she fixated on the other thing Mae had said, which was somehow even more terrible.

 _“…Sacrificed?”_ she repeated in a half-whisper.

Mae nodded solemnly. “Yeah… They thought it was gonna bring good fortune to the town. They thought they were doing something good…

Molly struggled to find something to say, she really did. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, struggling to force any semblance of thought out, but her mind was entirely blank. This was leaps and bounds more terrible than even her wildest dreams.

Who—

Why—

What kind of people…?

How could anyone do something like that?

How could they be so utterly deplorable and go about their days like nothing was wrong?

It was sickening.

They were sickening.

Sacrifices? To a god? To help the town?

How would they even arrive at that solution?

Why would they kill people?

This hadn’t just been some secret society intent on embezzlement and tax evasion, this was…

She didn’t even want to think the words. 

It was almost too horrifying to even consider.

…They were a cult, plain and simple.

There had been a cult consisting of numerous influential people in town that had been going about and killing—no, _sacrificing_ countless people in the name of some god. For good fortune.

It felt surreal, in a way. Like something out of a movie. This simply wasn’t something that happened in real life.

And all this time, they’d been here, under her nose, kidnapping and sacrificing people without the barest hints of remorse. They’d been in control of this town, and no one but Mae and her friends had even managed to figure it out. Not even she and Sam.

She could’ve died, she realized.

They could’ve taken her and covered it up just like everything else they had.

They could’ve taken Sam, and she would’ve been powerless to stop them.

They could’ve killed them both.

If she had gotten any closer to exposing them, she was sure they would’ve done anything to prevent that.

They could both be dead right now.

In fact, it was almost a miracle they weren’t.

It would’ve been so easy for them.

And that thought terrified her. 

It really, truly did. 

The town council’s attempts at stonewalling her had probably just been the beginnings of a much larger plan to stop her.

Suddenly, Dan’s incessant interest in that arm they’d left in the middle of town made that much more sense.

Dave’s thinly-veiled threat to her the other day seemed much more menacing. 

How many people had they all killed?

How many people had they taken down there and sacrificed?

How many people had she missed?

She couldn’t even begin to imagine how many were dead.

She couldn’t imagine killing them. Or killing anyone ever, for that matter.

She had inadvertently caused the death of one person, and it nearly destroyed her. She had been depressed for years and the guilt of it still ate her up some nights.

And they had consciously killed at least thirty people she knew of. In cold blood.

Some of them had even been people from the town. They had deemed Phil Smith unacceptable. They thought Casey Hartley was worthless trash. 

How could so many people in this town go along with something like that? What kind of people were they that premeditated murder was acceptable to them? Who were they to decide who to kill?

She didn’t have an answer to that.

They weren’t even fit to be considered people.

They were monsters.

They were monsters who, quite frankly, deserved to die in that mine.

And that was that.

When she finally got a hold of the tumultuous storm of thoughts swirling around her mind some minutes later, she looked up at Mae.

Her niece was sitting there, leaning back in the booth, seemingly almost at peace with this whole situation. Her nervousness and unease had dissipated at some point, leaving what appeared to be a quiet acceptance. If Molly didn’t know her better, she would’ve find it odd for Mae to be so at ease now, but she understood.

This had been something Mae had come to terms with a while ago, Molly realized. She had had days to adjust to and internalize the news of this cult and their killings, and had been carrying that weight around all that time. Sure, she had had her friends to help her, but it was still a heavy thing to have weighing on your conscience. Maybe finally coming clean about all this helped her feel more at peace, same as it had with Molly before.

As the initial shock began to wear off, Molly knew she was going to have to press Mae to explain things in further detail. She really didn’t want to have to put her niece through her memories again, but couldn’t see any other way. 

She needed to know everything Mae knew.

The truth will out.

Eventually, Molly found her voice again and managed to force out the only thing that mattered. “…Tell me everything,” she said in a rush of air, “Please.”

And Mae did.

She did so almost eagerly.

After taking a moment to organize her thoughts, she began speaking, her voice quiet but firm. Molly sat at attention as she began explaining her story. And, boy, what a story it was.

“Okay… So, like, it all started with this weird dream I had a couple of days after I got back from college…”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew. Finally done with this.
> 
> Molly’s monologue was a blast to write and hopefully it didn’t drag on too long for you guys. I mean, the game is 80% sitting still and reading dialogue, so this isn’t much different.
> 
> So, some points—While we only know for certain the cult is killing people, I don’t find it that much of a stretch to have them committing white-collar crime like tax evasion or bribery. I mean hey, you have a group of people all working together for a common goal, and you’re already killing people, so why not do lesser crimes too? 
> 
> And really, I think the only way the cult could’ve operated for so long was if the police and mayor were both in on it. Otherwise, they would’ve been found out a lot sooner. They took a lot of people over the years and it’d be far-fetched to say that absolutely no one noticed, even if most of them were homeless people. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed this. I certainly enjoyed writing it all. I loved writing Molly (or my interpretation of her, anyway). I know the prevailing theory about her is that she was in the cult and was threatening Mae, and that’s why she didn't show up at the end of the game, but I never saw it like that. I always saw her as a concerned family member that was trying to do her best to keep her niece out of danger. 
> 
> Well, that’s that. There’s probably only going to be a couple more stories from me and then I’ll be done with Night in the Woods for good. Expect to see some Mae’s parents, some Angus and Gregg, and some Lori sometime in the future!


	5. The Aftermath

  


__

_~The Aftermath~_

  


It had started snowing at some point while Molly and Mae were in Miller’s Sports Bar. Molly wasn’t really sure when it started. Her mind had been on other things at the time.

Mae had left a while ago, mentioning some _thing_ she had to go do with her friends, leaving Molly to process all the information she had been given. It was a lot to think about, to say the least. Even though she had had her suspicions, it was another thing entirely to find out that so many people she knew and respected were murderers.

At first, she ordered a beer just to have something to drink while she mulled over her next course of action. That beer quickly turned into two and then three, and eventually, she just started drinking to distract herself from the reality of the situation. It was easier to get drunk than think about any potential implications.

So what if she ended up having a few too many beers? People were dead, her niece had nearly been killed, a cult had been sacrificing people right under her nose, and she was off duty anyways. What better reasons were there to get drunk than that? 

As the evening wore on, Molly steadily amassed a collection of empty glasses on the table, drinking well past her normal stopping point. She just kept ordering more beer and Jacob Miller just kept bringing them out to her.

It was around her seventh or eighth beer of the night that Jacob finally cut her off and kicked her out. She had been the only customer there all night, he had told her, and he was tired and just wanted to go home. His father was one of the ones who disappeared, after all. She was honestly surprised he opened up the bar at all.

She stumbled out of Miller’s and into the cold night air. 

Despite it only being a little past eight o’ clock, the streets were uncharacteristically empty, save for Molly and one car that was traveling out in the direction of the Food Donkey. As much as she would’ve liked to chalk it up to no one wanting to go out while it was snowing, she knew it was because of the disappearances. People were holed up in their homes, worried out of their minds about their missing friends and family, or worried they might vanish next.

Molly heaved a deep sigh and trudged down the steps outside of Miller’s, holding on to the railing for support. The steps were iced over and the fact she was a _little_ bit drunk didn’t help any. She was normally able to handle her alcohol well, but she’d definitely gone overboard.

Once she finally made it down, thankfully without slipping and falling, she stood there on the sidewalk for just a few seconds. Snow gently fell from the sky, adding to the good couple of inches that already covered the ground.

She glanced behind her, at the stairwell down to the trolley platform.

No one had locked up the gate for the night. That had always been Gary’s job, and now that both he and Andrew were gone—trapped at the bottom of the mine, she reminded herself bitterly—it didn’t seem like Coleen or Cathleen had bothered picking up the slack.

On any other day, she might’ve cared enough to go out of her way to lock it up herself. It was a public space that should’ve been closed for the night.

But she just couldn’t find it in herself right then. Any sort of motivation she had at the beginning of the day was thoroughly sapped, and, most importantly, she really didn’t care if someone vandalized Towne Center Platform anymore. It could rot, in her opinion.

So she turned and began walking away.

She didn’t have a particular destination in mind. She just went where her feet took her.

All she knew was that she didn’t want to go home just yet.

Couldn’t bear to be alone just yet.

Luckily, despite the cold, it was a beautiful night. Molly always liked the snow and the way it covered everything in a blanket of white. For just a little while, she could forget all the ugliness that lay underneath this town and pretend that everything was okay.

And she needed that now more than anything.

Her thoughts began to drift as she walked down the street, largely due to the alcohol in her system. She carved an unsteady path through the fresh snow, trying her hardest not to fall over. The snow was piled just high enough to make walking difficult in her state of mind.

Through the clouds and the haze of falling snow, Molly could still make out the glow of the moon. It was very nearly full now, by the looks of it, and shone bright in the night sky. She had always heard that the stars and moon were washed out by the lights of big cities, but had never seen that herself. Possum Springs was much too small for that.

And she loved Possum Springs. She really did. This was her home and she fully intended to live out the rest of her life here. She never really understood why Mae and that whole generation wanted so desperately to leave town. The furthest she had ever been away was when she went to the police academy a couple of hours west and she barely survived being away for those nine months.

So it was difficult for her to understand just why that…cult had done what they did. She would give the world for Possum Springs, but the very thought of what they did was unthinkable. It disgusted her. It made her feel like throwing up—

Oh, wait.

That was actually the alcohol churning away in her stomach.

She dry heaved once, then twice, and then turned towards one of the nearby buildings and promptly emptied the contents of her stomach right there on the street. It was mostly liquid, seeing as the only thing she’d had for hours now had been beer.

That was a new low for her. She had thrown people, mostly Frank Santello, into the drunk tank for less.

But there she was, piss drunk in the middle of the night, throwing up on the sidewalk right in front of... She glanced up, barely making out the faded words on the glass storefront. It was the old Party Barn. 

…Well, at least it was a vacant building, she thought. She would’ve been really embarrassed if it had been the Ol’ Pickaxe or something.

She shuffled a few steps to the right, away from her pool of bile, and leaned against the wall. Her throat burned and her mouth tasted like death. Throwing up was not a pleasant experience.

In hindsight, drinking that much had not been a good idea, especially considering she hadn’t eaten any food the whole time. She hadn’t had that much to drink since she was a teenager and did not have that sort of constitution anymore. She’d just been asking for trouble.

With her hands on her knees, she took in a few deep, steadying gulps of air and tried to catch her breath. 

It was only after she stood there for a few minutes that she fully realized just how cold it was. The wind had picked up at some point, carrying with it a fresh flurry of snow and a biting cold that chilled her to the core. She had neglected to wear a coat when she left her apartment that afternoon, so her only protection against the cold was the old sweater and baseball cap she was wearing.

She stuck her hands in her pockets, desperate to keep them warm, and scrunched her arms as close to her body as physically possible. She had been mostly okay up until just then, but the cold was really starting to get to her. The wind made it feel at least another ten or fifteen degrees colder.

The only thing on her mind right then was to find someplace warm.

Unfortunately for her, her apartment was still thirty minutes away. Probably even longer with the amount of snow impeding her progress. That was way too far at the moment. She’d freeze before she even got there. Or throw up again. Neither was particularly preferred.

Luckily, however, there was another place much closer.

The police station was just a street over. That would be the perfect place to rest and wait for the storm to calm down.

With that destination firmly locked in her mind, Molly heaved herself up off the wall and started to move before she permanently froze in place. She immediately turned the corner and cut through the empty field containing the old Stanley T. Possum war memorial statue. 

She was pretty sure Stan had a relative on there somewhere. Candy had pointed it out to her once, back when she and Stan started dating. Her family didn’t have any names on the statue.

There was a waist-high brick wall that fenced in the war memorial. At some point, a significant portion of it had been knocked over during a storm and was never repaired. It made for an easy cut-through to the next street. Molly ducked her head under the orange caution tape that had been there since forever and started the walk to the police station.

There were only a few streetlights to light her way as she walked down Magnolia Street. Unlike Maple, town hall didn’t seem to care if this street was well lit or not. Several lights had been out for years now and Molly would’ve been surprised to see them replaced at this point. Apparently, the second most important road in town didn’t warrant such luxuries.

The police station was still a little ways away, only about two blocks. Molly could see it in the distance because one of the few working streetlights was positioned right out front of the building. That said, in the cold and snow those two blocks might as well have been a mile.

Picking up her pace, she hurried the rest of the way to the building, praying that the heating was still on. Even if it wasn’t, she figured it would still be warmer than outside. Maybe there would even be a spare coat in the storeroom or something.

As she approached the building, she dug her keys out of her pocket and practically leapt up the steps out front. With practiced ease, even in her less-than-sober state, she unlocked the doors and slipped inside.

A much-welcomed gust of warm air met her as she stepped into the lobby and she let loose a relieved sigh. She shook off the light dusting of snow that had accumulated on her shoulders and moved further inside, eager to get away from the cold outdoors.

She leaned heavily on the front desk, gently blowing air on her frozen hands in an effort to warm them up. It didn’t really help much, but it was something. They were beginning to get the feeling back in them again.

This was not at all how she expected her night to go. 

As she stood there, she began to feel a little more alert. Either the alcohol was beginning to wear off or the numbness in her face was helping to sober her up some. It was cold enough outside to make her body forget about the alcohol in her system.

Either way, having finally warmed up a little, Molly decided to go rinse her mouth out in the nearby water fountain to try and get the taste of bile off her tongue. She even freshened up in the bathroom so it didn’t look so much like she had spent the past couple of hours drinking. There wasn’t anyone around to impress, but made her feel better at least.

With that done, she went to go sit at her desk and wait until the storm hopefully died down enough for her to get back home. That said, if worse came to worse she could always sleep at the station. She had done it before. There was a little bed in one of the back rooms. Dan used to spend most of his shift sleeping back there, as the people of Possum Springs rarely required the police during the night.

As she rounded the corner into the bullpen, she realized the lights were still on. Someone must have forgotten to turn them off before they left. Or maybe it was the night they had the janitors come through to clean up.

But neither of those things were what awaited her as she walked into the room. Instead, she was incredibly surprised to see Sam sitting at his desk, hunched over some papers.

She stopped short in the doorway, confused as to what he was doing there. They had both agreed that it was too much work for either of them to stay for the night shift. They were the only two officers left in town, and they had been run ragged with as crazy as things had been.

Moving into the room, she cleared her throat. “H-hey there, Sam.” Her voice was still winded from the cold. Also, alcohol. “…What’re you doing here?”

He jerked up in alarm, eyes wide. He obviously hadn’t heard her come in and Molly couldn’t help but notice his hand twitch towards the gun on his belt. Once he realized who she was though, he relaxed and sunk back into his chair, looking at her with the same confused expression she had. “…Hey there, Mol. What’re you doin’ here?”

She took a step closer, quickly glancing over the papers spread out on his desk. She couldn’t make out the scribbles he called his handwriting. “ _What am I doing here_?” she parroted. “What’re you doing here? You should be home. Sleeping.”

He nodded absentmindedly at that, obviously not agreeing. “I know. I know. I just—” A deep yawn cut him off. “I was just looking over some stuff about the disappearances.”

At those words, Molly’s mood dropped considerably. Her face tightened into a scowl, but Sam didn’t seem to notice. He continued talking, excitement evident in his voice. “You know Carol? The mayor’s secretary? Well, I was talking with her earlier today and—”

“The investigation’s over, Sam.”

Sam stopped dead in his tracks and looked up at Molly. “What?”

Molly turned away from him, rubbing her face. She hadn’t anticipated getting into this whole thing right then, but it seemed she was anyway. “I said it’s over. We’re not looking into it anymore. Close it out.” With that, she sat heavily at her own desk and heaved a sigh.

Sam stood up in response, staring at her in disbelief. “Over? What do you mean ‘over?’” He gave an incredulous chuckle. “This ain’t over! We need to find them!”

He shoved whatever papers he was looking at under her face. “Look! Carol wrote down all this stuff about—”

“Drop it, okay? We’re done.” She snatched the papers out of his hands and threw them down on her desk. She was not in the mood.

“What the hell, Molly!?” He grabbed for his papers and frantically tried to smooth out the wrinkles she put in them. “We’ve spent too much time on this to stop now! We need to bring these guys to justice for what they did!”

“Sam.” Her voice was icy. “As the acting chief, I am telling you that this investigation is closed. We’re done. We’ll tell the town tomorrow that they’re presumed dead or something.”

“Molly!” Sam sputtered, flabbergasted. “You— I can’t just—”

“Drop. It. Officer Hutchins. This is not up for discussion.”

Sam snorted indignantly. “You’re soundin’ an awful lot like Dave used to—tellin’ us to just forget about all the drifters that went missin’. What the hell happened, Molly? You put years of your life into findin’ out what was really goin’ on in this town and now you’re just gonna give up!?”

“I’m not giving up! I just—”

“Just what!? ‘Cause from where I’m standin’ it’s soundin’ an awful lot like you’re givin’ up on findin’ all those people they kidnapped!”

She growled and stood up from the desk, glaring at him. “Sam! You have no right to—” And then she broke off, her entire body deflating. She sat back down again, her eyes vacant. “…No. No, you’re right. You should know.”

Sam didn’t respond.

Molly looked back up at him and he flinched at what he saw in her expression. In all the years he’d known her, he had never seen her look so shaken. “What happened, Molly?” His voice was softer now.

“…I met with Mae today…”

His eyes widened in realization. “What’d she tell you?”

She took a deep breath, unsure where exactly to begin. Her stomach was doing flips and she felt like she might throw up again. Talking about this while drunk was not a good idea.

After a moment, she began. “Oh God...” Her voice was breathless. “It’s terrible, Sam. It’s so terrible.” Her eyes fixated on him. “No one can know. This can’t— This would ruin Possum Springs if it ever got out. It would destroy the town.”

“What happened?”

“They’re dead. They killed them all.”

Sam nearly collapsed at that. He fell back in his chair. “ _…What_?”

“Everyone’s dead…” The words began to flow better as she continued to talk. “They kidnapped all those people just to sacrifice them to some god they thought lived in the mine.” She buried her head in her hands. “They killed them all—and they were sitting here all this time pretending that they were good and honest people.”

He didn’t know what to say at first. Just like Molly had been when Mae had first told her, he was trying to process that information. Molly could tell he was piecing together everything. Realizing just how dangerous a situation they had been in.

Eventually, he found his voice again, though it was clear he was still very shaken. “…How?”

Molly shrugged. “Mae saw them. She talked to them. She and all her friends. They were the ones who caused the cave-in. They trapped all twenty-one of them down there.”

Knowing that Sam deserved to hear the whole story, Molly quickly recapped everything Mae had told her, only excluding a few details that she felt were more personal to her niece. 

When she was done, Sam leaned back in his chair and sighed. He had stayed quiet through the whole explanation, so Molly was unsure what his thoughts were, though she could certainly guess that they were similar to her own.

“Holy hell,” he said, “I can’t believe it.”

“I know…” Molly said softly.

“I mean, I just…”

“Yeah…”

He grimaced. “Now I get why you were so upset earlier.”

“Well…” She cracked a small smile. “That was mostly ‘cause I’ve had a bit to drink tonight.”

Sam grunted, nodding sympathetically. “Amen to that. I think I could go for a couple of drinks too.”

Molly didn’t say anything. Telling Sam everything gave the whole situation a sense of finality. This had been a very real thing that had happened. That wasn’t a good feeling.

Silence reigned as they were both lost in their own thoughts for a few moments.

Molly’s head sunk lower and lower until it was practically resting on her desk, propped up only by her forearm. She had been right before; the cold _had_ made her disregard how drunk she was. Now that she was inside and properly warmed up, she was feeling sluggish again. Tired. Honestly, she could’ve gone to sleep right then and there.

But it wasn’t to be. Eventually, Sam spoke up again. “So, what are we gonna do now?”

Molly sighed and rolled a shoulder in a halfhearted attempt at a shrug. She had done some thinking on the matter while she had been at Miller’s, but there wasn’t an easy solution. “I dunno. The way I see it, we can’t let this get out. Like I said before, it would destroy the town.”

“Yeah…”

“I think…” She took a deep breath, trying to organize her thoughts. “…We wait a couple more weeks ‘til things die down, and then we’re gonna put out a statement saying…umm…their bodies are in the old mine and there’s no way we can retrieve them. That’s it. Full stop.”

“What’ll we say when they ask why they were down in the mine in the first place? Or how we found it out?”

“We’ll tell them it’s…confidential information or something. I dunno.” That was the best her mind could supply at the moment. “We can’t let anyone know what really happened. We just have to say something, let the families mourn, and bury this thing so deep in the hope that no one ever looks further.”

“People won’t be happy with that.”

“I know...” Molly fiddled with a pen on the desk and then looked over at Sam. “But what else can we do?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted simply. He was staring off at the floor, his mouth pressed into a thin line. “This is a big thing to try and cover up. People are gonna wanna know the truth.”

Molly let out a dry chuckle, a crooked smirk crossing her face. “Well, unless someone has an extra twenty million dollars lying around to fund a complicated excavation effort, they’re gonna stay buried.”

He didn’t laugh.

“I just—” He broke off, exasperated. “I don’t like this, Mol. At all. We’ve spent so long tryin’ to uncover what’s been goin’ on in this town, and now that we have, we’re turnin’ around to lie to everyone just like they did. It doesn’t sit right with me.”

He stopped speaking for a moment, but Molly didn’t say anything in response, so he continued unabated. “We always said we wouldn’t be like Dave or Dan—that we wouldn’t do this exact thing we’re doin’ right now! And I…I don’t like it.”

“It’s for the best.” She paused. “We have to.”

“I’m sure that’s what they told themselves too,” he laughed bitterly. “Right as they were killin’ all those people. For the greater good and all.”

Molly looked at him, picking her head up off the desk. That had been uncharacteristically dark. Was that how he viewed this whole thing? “Sam… That’s not—”

“I know,” he hastily cut her off, waving a hand. “I don’t mean that.” He closed his eyes and cradled his head in his hands. “It’s just hard findin’ out they were all murderers, you know? I mean, Lonny Brunner was the highschool principal for cryin’ out loud! He was in charge of the kids!”

“And he shook poor Casey Hartley’s hand at graduation just to turn around and killed him. They stole some kid at Harfest just ‘cause she was from out of town. And they took poor Phil Smith just ‘cause he lost his house.”

“The Hartley kid was them? You sure?”

She nodded reluctantly. “Yeah. Mae told me herself.”

“Oh shit! I forgot she was friends with him. How’s she holdin’ up?”

“Good enough, I guess. I, uhh, don’t really think the…umm… the consequences of what’s happened hit her or her friends yet. We should probably make sure we talk to them soon and make sure they’re okay.” A large yawn punctuated the end of her sentence.

That yawn was picked up by Sam next, who covered his mouth in response. He blinked blearily at her. “Yeah.”

Molly yawned again.

Sam glanced up at the clock on the wall and she followed his gaze. It was close to eleven o’clock. A lot later than she thought. A lot longer than she expected to stay out. The whole day had been unexpected like that.

They looked back at each other, the same thought flashing between them.

“Well,” Sam said, standing up, “I think it’s time we went home. I’m just about shot. We can talk in the morning once we’ve slept on this thing.”

And that was something Molly could definitely agree with. It had been a draining day, not even including this conversation with Sam, and she wanted nothing more than to go home and crawl into bed.

She stood up, though probably a little too quickly as she immediately had to hold on to the desk for support. Her legs were still a little unsteady and her head was swimming. 

Sam moved over the coat rack in the corner of the room and took his thick winter jacket off the hook. He looked back at Molly, suddenly realizing she showed up here without any winter clothing. “Hey, how’d you get here in the first place?”

“Walked,” was her curt response, for that was all the thought she could spare at the moment. She took a few tentative steps forward, still holding on the desk for support. It seemed to her that sitting down for so long hadn’t helped her motor skills any.

He had to stifle a laugh, seeing her in such a state. He’d never seen her so drunk before. “Well, by the looks of things, it’s a miracle you made it here in one piece. You must’ve been freezin’. How much did you have to drink again?”

She just glared at him and took another few steps forward, finally having steadied herself somewhat.

Now he couldn’t contain his laughter and walked over to her, throwing an arm around her shoulder for support. “C’mon, I’ll get you home.”

Together, they walked out to the parking lot around the side of the building. When Molly exited back out into the cold air, she very nearly decided to turn around and spend the night in the station, but Sam pressed her forward. Despite the difficulty she had walking earlier, she found few problems crossing the distance from the door to the car as fast as possible.

The car ride home was spent in relative silence, the only sounds being some song playing on the radio that was too quiet to hear properly and the crunch of the snow under the tires. The storm had died down a little bit, but it was still snowing fairly heavily. Even with the snow tires, Sam had to drive with caution.

But none of that mattered to Molly. Five minutes into the drive, all those beers finally caught up to her and she dozed off right there in the car. Sam let her sleep, but took particular glee in the fact she snored a little, though he couldn’t be sure if that was because of the alcohol or not.

When they finally made it to her building, Sam nudged her awake. “Hey, get up, Mol. I’m not gonna lug you up to your apartment.”

Molly woke slowly, blinking wearily as she looked around at her surroundings, surprised they had already arrived. “Oh…” she murmured. She made to say something more, but a yawn cut her off.

Sam smiled at her. “Enjoy your nap?”

“Yeah.” She smiled back. “Thanks for driving me.”

“No more a problem than usual,” he assured her. “You sure you can get up to your apartment?”

She sat up straighter in her seat and stole a glance at the building. “I think so. I’m not _that_ drunk. I can manage a flight of stairs.”

“If you say so.” He trusted her judgement.

Molly opened the door and stepped outside, immediately shivering. Even Sam shrunk back as the cold entered the warm sanctuary of the car.

Before she shut the door, Sam leaned forward. “See you tomorrow, Molly. We’ll figure this thing out.”

She nodded. “See you tomorrow, Sam.”

And with that, she left and quickly went up the steps to her apartment. Sam stayed and watched until she got inside before driving off. Molly could hear the rumble of the car engine disappear down the street.

Shaking off the cold, she trudged up the flight of stairs, taking care to hold on to the railing as she went. As she finally made it to her apartment, she fumbled with her keys for just a second, but eventually managed to get the door open.

Acting Police Chief Margaret Williams stepped into her dark, empty apartment. It was a cozy little place, perfect for her and her officer’s salary. It wasn’t much, but it was home.

Today, nearly twenty years of covert information-gathering and clandestine investigations had finally come to a close, thanks only to her niece of all people. Close to forty people had been taken and killed by a group of men loved and respected in this town, and while it wasn’t the legal justice she had wanted, they still got their comeuppance in the end.

A chapter of her life was over, for all intents and purposes. In a way, she almost felt as if a huge weight had been taken off her shoulders. She could finally let go of this thing that had been hanging over her for so long, though it did present a whole new series of challenges that she would have to deal with.

But for now, all she wanted to do was sleep.

She shuffled past her kitchen, past her little living room, past the corner filled with all the papers and evidence she had gathered over the years, and into her bedroom.

And then she flopped down on her bed, wrapped herself in her sheets, and very swiftly fell asleep. 

She could pick up the pieces tomorrow.

  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Here’s what is definitely going to be the final chapter of The Truth About Aunt Molly. This should hopefully give a better conclusion to her story than the last chapter. At the very least, we get to see the immediate aftermath of her finding out what really happened and how she handles it, and a Molly that’s more emotionally shaken than before.
> 
> And how about that Weird Autumn edition of NITW?! Turns out that my headcanon that Molly wasn’t in the cult is completely vindicated, which means this story is slightly closer to canon than it used to be. Though, at the same time, it also confirms that the Town Council wasn’t in the cult, which goes against what I wrote here, but whatever. I thought about going back and changing it, but it’s too much unnecessary work for something that isn’t much of a problem.


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